


A long journey

by Fantasticoncer



Series: Unexpected soulmates [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Modern Character in Middle Earth, Out of Character, Protective Aragorn, Protective Legolas Greenleaf, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-11-06 04:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 49,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17932463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantasticoncer/pseuds/Fantasticoncer
Summary: A car crash sends four friends to Middle- Earth, where they have to face danger, make new friends and find love





	1. Middle-Earth?!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

"No, but I mean it. "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy was much better." Grace Armitage said, as she and her friends walked out of the theater, having watched "The Battle of the Five Armies." Her best friend, Victoria Pace, rolled her eyes in answer. "Yes, I agree, but that's mostly the fault of the studio from what I've heard. They didn't give Peter Jackson enough time to properly make the movies. He had at least a year of preparation for "Lord of the Rings", but he had to improvise a lot, while filming "The Hobbit"." She replied. 

Eva Miran sighed as the group of the four twenty-year olds arrived at her car. "Nevertheless, it will be weird not to have any Middle-Earth movies coming out any more." She said and her brother James agreed with her. "Yeah, but that's what the extended editions are for." He said, before looking at his sister. "Do you want me to drive?" He asked and Eva shrugged, before giving him the keys. "The romance was a bit forced though." She said, being a romantic at heart and hating it if the romance wasn't done well in movies or books.

James, Grace and Victoria chuckled as they got into the car. Grace sighed deeply. "Honestly, I hope that my soulmate will look at me the same way that Kili looked at Tauriel. That would be really nice." She muttered and James chuckled. "Well, we do know that he's at least some kind of gentleman." He said, glancing at her arm where her soulmark was, the first words that her soulmate would ever say to her. _"Are you alright, my lady?"_

"I'm still jealous of that, by the way." Eva piped up from the passenger seat, her soulmark having caused a lot of scowling from the girl over the years. _"Maybe, you should learn not to speak against your betters."_ Whoever her soulmate was, he sounded like a right prick. Victoria giggled and looked at her own mark, which caused quite some worry with her parents. _"You shouldn't be here. It's not safe."_ While worried about it herself, Victoria felt slightly comforted that the first thing that her soulmate would say to her, was something out of concern.

James smiled as he started the car and drove off, thinking about his own soulmark. His soulmark was a simple question. _"_ _Do you need any help?"_  His soulmate seemed nice enough, but he of course wouldn't know, until he met her They kept talking about the movie, until they came at a red stoplight. They waited until it was green and drove on, not knowing that it would change their lives forever. Screeching ties, a harsh light, a crashing sound and finally nothing but black. 

James opened his eyes to sunlight, feeling grass tickle his nose. He slowly opened his eyes and saw his sister lying next to him. He sat up as quickly as he could and saw Grace and Victoria lying behind Eva. He quickly shook his sister's shoulders. "Eva. Wake up." He called softly, concern and worry freezing his blood. To his relief, Eva slowly started to stir and opened her eyes as well. "James? What happened?" She asked. 

Her brother looked around, while slowly standing up and going to wake up the other girls. "I don't know. The last thing that I remember is getting in a car crash." He muttered. The two other girls woke up as well and looked around in just as much confusion. "Is this heaven?" Grace asked, having been raised in a catholic family. Victoria frowned. "I don't see St Peter anywhere or a big gate, so I doubt it." She muttered, looking around.

They were in an open spot in a forest. They heard the birds in the trees and insects flying around. It was quite a sight for the group of four, who had all been raised in New York city. Despite the beauty, the four still had no idea how they had gotten there or how they could go home. Eva grabbed James's hand in slight fear. "Where are we?" She asked, the others wondering that as well

Just then, there was the sound of footsteps nearby. The group was immediately on their guard and turned to the sound as one. An old man dressed in a grey robe, wearing a grey hat and carrying a wooden staff appeared from behind a tree, looking at the group in surprise. "Well, what do we have here?" He wondered out loud as the group stared at him in varying degrees of shock. It couldn't be...

Finally closing her open mouth after several seconds, Victoria slowly stepped forwards. "Um, hello. My name is Victoria. Could you please tell us where we are?" She asked timidly. The man frowned in slight concern, before smiling at them. "Most certainly. You are in Middle-Earth. Just a few miles to Imladris or Rivendell to be exact. Oh and my name is Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey." He said. The group stared at him once again. Finally, Eva broke the silence. "Well, shit." She muttered, before promptly fainting. 

James and Grace quickly managed to catch her, before she hit her head and Gandalf immediately walked forward to see if she was alright. James and the other girls shared a look. If they actually were in Middle-Earth, then their lives just became a whole lot stranger. Gandalf nodded to himself after checking up on Eva. "She will be fine. Now, where did a remarkable group such as yourselves come from?" He asked kindly. 

The three shared another look. "That is a bit of a long story and this may not be the right place to tell it." Grace said, speaking up for her friends. If Gandalf was still in his grey robes, then the ring must still be out there somewhere. Sensing the logic in her words, Gandalf nodded. "Very well. I will lead you to Imladris. There, you can safely tell your story to me and Lord Elrond." He said, as James lifted up his unconscious sister in his arms. 

The grey wizard turned and started to lead the way, the group having no choice, but to follow him. After at least half an hour of walking, they came across some elves on patrol and the group tried their hardest not to stare again. The elves saw the unconscious woman in James's arms and offered to bring her to Rivendell ahead of them. James was reluctant, but eventually agreed, knowing that he couldn't carry his sister all the way.

Some of the other elves stayed with James, Victoria, Grace and Gandalf and escorted them to the hidden valley. Finally catching their first glimpse of Rivendell, the small group allowed themselves to stare. It was even more beautiful than in the movies or imagination. Gandalf chuckled at their reactions, before gently nudging them forward with his staff. James, Victoria and Grace shared yet another look as they walked towards Rivendell. One thing was for sure: their lives would never be boring again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this has been done many times before, but I wanted to give my own take.
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.
> 
> P. S can you guess who their soulmates are?


	2. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly setting up the story

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

_Eva looked around, but saw only mist. She then heard a voice coming from the mist. "Welcome, Eva Miran." The voice said. Several figures appeared from the mist. They were all very tall and Eva shrank back a bit. "Be at peace, child. We are not here to harm you." One of the figures said in a soft tone. Eva looked at them. "Who are you?" She asked. The figure, who had spoken, pulled off his hood._

_"I am Manwë." He said strongly. Eva's eyes widened and she quickly bowed to the best of her abilities, recognising the name as one of the Valar. Manwë chuckled and reached out to pat Eva's head. "It is alright, child. You do not have to bow to us." He said. Eva carefully straightened up again, now knowing in whose presence she was. "Does that mean that we actually are in Middle-Earth?" She asked, still unable to believe it_

_Manwë chuckled. "Yes, it does, my child. I know that you are wondering why you are here and the truth is that you, your brother and your friends are needed. Sauron is growing in strength and Arda wil need your help." He said seriously. Eva bit her lip, before raising her hand to ask a question. Manwë smiled kindly and nodded at her, allowing her to speak. "What about our soulmates? Are they not on earth?" She asked._

_Manwë shook his head. "They are not nor have they ever been. They are in Arda. You will meet them eventually and you will not age, until you have met them and you will age at the same rate as them." He said. Eva nodded, before frowning slightly in confusion. "But what if one of our soulmates is an elf? Wil said person be immortal as well?" She asked and Manwë smiled at her. "A very fair question and the answer is yes." He answered._

_Eva took a deep breath at his answer, before shaking her head. "Alright, you said that Arda needed our help. I can not speak for my friends, but I am willing to help if I can. What do we need to do?" She asked. One of the other Valar stepped forwards. "In ten years, there will be a quest by my children to reclaim their homeland and I am sure that you know of whom I speak." He said and Eva nodded, knowing that he was speaking of the quest of Thorin Oakenshield._

_"You and your friends will be part of that quest." The Vala said, Eva now recognising him as the father and maker of the dwarves: Aulë. Eva frowned a bit at his words. "I mean absolutely no offense, sir, but I do not think that your children will allow women in the company." She said, feeling slightly doubtful. Aulë simply laughed. "Then you have to convince them that you are worthy." He said._

_Eva nodded at that, before looking at the other Valar. "You do realize that we are anything, but equipped for this." She said, knowing that none of her group could fight. The Valar chuckled. "The elves and rangers will help you train and prepare for your journeys." M_ _anwë said, before waving his hand and Eva felt a warm feeling spread through her. "What was that?" She asked and Manwë simply smiled. "You will know, once you show true courage and bravery." He said, before closing his eyes_

 _Now, I think that it is time for you to return to your brother and friends. I just have one more warning: sometimes, it is simply impossible to change things, no matter how hard you try." He said_ _Eva frowned in confusion, but Manwë simply smiled at her. One of the ladies of the Valar stepped forwards. "Take care of my children on your journeys." She requested and Eva bowed her head in reply. As one, the Valar raised their hands and began to glow. Just as the light became too much, Eva closed her eyes and felt darkness overtake her._

_\--------------------------_

Arriving at Rivendell, James, Grace, Victoria and Gandalf were greeted by Lord Elrond himself, which caused the humans to stare again, before they shook themselves out of it. James asked after his sister and was relieved to hear that she was was fine. They went to sitting room and the humans tried their best to explain their arrival and a bit of their world to the elven lord and wizard. Said lord and wizard were deep in thought, once the group had finished. 

"It is a most unusual situation that you have found yourselves in. You are saying that we are fictional characters in your world and now you have found yourselves in a world that you thought did not exist." Lord Elrond said and James nodded sheepishly. "That is pretty much it, sir. Yes." He said, just as he felt a strange feeling surge through his body. One look at Grace and Victoria and he saw that they had felt the same.

"Are you alright?" Gandalf asked, he and lord Elrond looking at them in concern. Victoria rubbed her throat at her collarbone. "I just felt a warmth going through me." She said. Grace and James felt the same, just as there was a knock on the door. An elven servant walked in, slightly supporting eva. "I'm sorry, my lord Elrond, but she demanded to be brought to you and Mithrandir." The servant said, gently putting Eva on a couch. 

James immediately walked towards her and looked her over to see if she was alright. Lord Elrond looked her over as well. "You could have asked a servant to come and get us. You did not have to get out of bed." He said. Eva smiled and bowed her head. Elrond had always been one of her favourite characters. "Thank you for your concern lord Elrond, but I feel mostly fine, except for a slight tiredness. Besides, you are not going to believe what I have seen." She said and the group looked at her in curiosity. She opened her mouth and started to tell about what tha Valar had told her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed two names, because I wasn't happy with it. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	3. Training and soulmates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group start their training and one of them meets their soulmate already

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The group was silent after Eva was done talking. Lord Elrond was deep in thought. "An already peculiar situation now has become even more so. Did they say anything else?" He asked and Eva shrugged. "Well, lord Manwë waved his hand and I got this warm feeling in my body. Lord Manwë said that I wil know what it is once I show true bravery and courage." She said and her brother and friends gasped in realisation.

"So, that was what the feeling was." Grace muttered. Eva looked at her. "You got the feeling too?" She asked and they all nodded. Gandalf cleared his throat and they focused on him. "I think that the most important thing now is to train you to be ready for this mysterious quest in ten years time." He said. The group shared a look, knowing how he pretty much forced a certain hobbit on the quest. Eva realised who the lady asking her to look after her children was: lady Yvanna, creator and mother of the hobbits.

Did that mean that she was going to meet Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin as well? She really hoped so. She loved those hobbits as did her friends. Victoria always loved Pippin, even if he wasn't always the smartest in the bunch. Eva thought that her friend would love to meet that silly hobbit. She sighed deeply, thinking of the journeys that were ahead. She just hoped that they were strong enough to survive them

They started to stand up to go to the training fields, but Grace wasn't certain. "Do we have to train?" She whispered, never really having worked out in her life. Eva simply gave her a look. "Unless you want to be cooked by trolls, cut up by goblins or want to be burned alive by a dragon, who may or may not sound like Benedict Cumberbatch, yes. We do have to train or we're sitting ducks." She replied back. Grace didn't say anything after that. 

They arrived at the training fields and lord Elrond asked four of the soldiers to teach them in fighting, before leaving them in their hands. Eva's mentor elf, Calanon, led her to a chest filled with blades and told her to pick one that fitted and felt right. After she had done so, he led her to an open spot on the training fields. "Are you ready?" He asked. Eva sighed deeply. "Not really, but I know that I have to do this, so I am willing to try." She replied

Calanon nodded in approval and gestured her to stand in front of him. "Keep your blade up at all times." He instructed, nodding as she did so. He showed her some stances and moves, correcting them if she had them wrong, before returning to his spot and raising his own blade. "Now, because this is your first time, I will go easy on you." He said. A few seconds later, Eva was on the ground, grimacing and groaning loudly. "That was easy?" She asked and Calanon chuckled.

"If you thought that was difficult, my lady, then you have a lot to learn." He said, before helping her up and giving her her sword back. He returned to his spot. "Try again." He said. Eva did her best, but he kept managing to knock her down. At the end of the day, Eva could see bruises starting to form and she saw that her friends and brother weren't any better off. Calanon simply smiled and patted her back, saying that she couldn't possibly get it right in one day.

After that, it was training almost everyday from breakfast to dinner, with two days in the week learning about the history of Middle-Earth. Victoria, James and Eva slowly grew in their abilities on the training fields, but Grace seemed to run a bit behind. She was far better in remembering names of old places in history, than remembering where to put her sword in battle. This frustrated her to no end. 

Some of the elves working on the training fields looked at her in pity, when they saw her still practising something that her friends had already managed to learn. She hated those glances. She wanted to be just as good as her friends, but it just didn't happen. At the very least, she was faster in learning politics and history, but those would not exactly help in a battle for life and death. 

This was why she snuck out of her room really early in the morning to train in private. The sun was barely up as she swung her sword at non-existent foes, trying her best to get the movements that her mentor had thought her. Sweat was on her forehead and she felt exhausted, but she didn't stop. She kept continuing, until she finally felt dizzy and had to sit down on the ground to get her bearings, taking very deep breaths.

"Are you alright, my lady?" A voice asked from behind, making her jump. She turned around and saw a young man from about 17 standing there. "I'm alright. I just need to catch my breath." She replied, frowning slightly when she saw his eyes widen. He rolled up his sleeve and she felt her own eyes widen as she read the words on his arm. _"I'm alright. I just need to catch my breath_."

She looked down at her own words, realising that those were the first words that the young man had said to her. She looked back up at him. "We're..." she trailed off. "Soulmates." The young man continued, shock in his own eyes as he slowly got closer. Grace stood back up and slowly offered her hand. "My name is Grace." She said, blushing slightly as the young man gently gripped her hand and kissed her knuckles. 

Her soulmate slowly got a bit closer, apparently not wanting to make her uncomfortable by getting too close for her liking. "A beautiful name for a beautiful lady." He said, making her blush even more. "What is your name?" She asked. He smiled at her. "Estel." He answered. Grace fought hard to keep her jaw from dropping and her body from trembling as she recognised the name. Her soulmate was _Aragorn?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so a bit of calculating. Aragorn is 87 in LOTR. The hobbit is 60 years before that and this is ten years before the hobbit takes place, making him about seventeen. I double checked on the LOTR wiki and it said that Aragorn was told about his true heritage when he was twenty, so at this point, he believes his name is Estel.
> 
> Okay, history lesson over. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	4. More talking, another meeting and a confession

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

James, Eva and Victoria were eating a private breakfast, when Grace stormed in and threw her sword aside. "You are _not_ going to believe what happened!" She almost shouted. Her friends sat up straight in surprise at her sudden entrance. "What happened? Why are you already dressed?" Victoria asked, putting her goblet with water down, knowing that Grace was usually the last one to get out of bed in the morning. 

Grace stared at a burning candle, still all hyped about what had happened. "I got out earlier to train more as I'm running behind. Then, I met someone special, who is willing to help me with training." She said. Her friends looked at her in sympathy at first, followed by confusion at the second part of the sentence. "Who might that be?" Eva asked and Grace smiled. "My soulmate, who happens to be Viggo Mortensen's character." She said, knowing that her friends would know who she meant.

Eva, James and Victoria could feel their jaws fall. "Wow. Do we have to call you "your majesty" from now on?" James asked with a laugh. Grace shook her head with a smile. "Don't let him hear you say that. He doesn't know yet." She said and the others nodded at that. They patted Grace on her back, glad that she already had found her soulmate. They talked for a while, before Victoria came up with a good point. 

"If you're his soulmate, then who is a certain elleth supposed to be with?" She asked. The others thought about it, but none of them knew the answer to that question. Soon enough, they had to leave for training. As promised, "Estel" was there to help Grace and the woman finally managed to get a certain technique under control. The smile that she gave him in gratitude made his heart stop. 

That evening, a woman knocked on the door of Grace's chambers and introduced herself as Gilraen, Aragorn's mother. Grace immediately bowed slightly to her, but the woman stopped her with a smile. "You are my son's soulmate. You do not have to bow to me." She said. Grace smiled back at her, liking her already. The two women talked for a bit, getting to know each other, before Gilraen returned to her own rooms and Grace went to sleep. 

It didn't take long for lord Elrond to find out about "Estel" and Grace being soulmates and he called her into his study one day. "Considering that we are fictional characters in your world, I suppose that you know who your soulmate actually is." He said solemnly. Grace simply nodded in answer. Elrond looked at her. "His future is full of uncertainty and darkness. It will not be easy for you." He warned. Grace looked back at him with determined eyes. "When has life ever been easy?" She asked and lord Elrond had to concede at that. 

The next few years passed in the same way. The group got stronger and learned many things about both battle and history/politics. "Estel" kept helping Grace with her training and they got closer with the day. The others already had secret bets going on when and who was going to say "I love you" first. The group also learned a thing or two from the rangers in those three years. When he turned twenty, Aragon was told of his true heritage and to say that he wasn't happy about it would be the understatement of the age.

Grace was peacefully reading a book in her chambers, late in the afternoon, when Aragorn burst in without knocking, startling her quite a bit. "Estel! What if I had been indecent?" She asked, but stopped at seeing his upset face. "What is wrong?" She asked, putting her book away and standing up. Aragorn looked at her, eyes full of betrayal and hurt. "Did you know?" He asked, not having to explain what he meant with his words. 

Grace sighed deeply, but nodded in answer. "Lord Elrond told me on the day that he found out about us being soulmates. He asked me not to tell you and I am truly sorry for betraying your trust." She said sincerely, looking down at the ground. Lord Elrond and Gandalf were the only ones to know about them being from another world, so even now she lied to her soulmate, no matter how much it hurt to do so. 

She already loved Aragorn more than anyone in her life. She absolutely hated to lie to him about pretty much everything. About his heritage and her former life. She understood that it was for his own safety, but that didn't mean that she had to like to lie to her soulmate. And knowing what was in his future just made it worse. She was honestly glad that he finally knew the truth. That was one lie less that she had to tell him. 

Aragorn could see that she meant it and walked towards her, embracing her tightly. Grace hugged him back, resting her head against his shoulder. Aragorn slowly carded his fingers through her hair. _"Gi melin, Eruanna."_ He whispered, the words slipping out of his mouth, before he could stop them. Grace looked up at him. "What does that mean?"  She asked, her Elvish not exactly splendid. He looked down at her and smiled. 

It means "I love you, Grace" and I do." He replied, much to his soulmate's surprise. "You are saying it already? We only know each other for a few years." She replied. Aragorn smiled at her, caressing her cheek. I know, but I can not deny my feelings any longer. It only grows stronger every day." He said. Grace leaned into his touch. Opening her eyes again, she smiled at him, wanting to comfort her soulmate.

"I love you too. Estel or Aragorn, I do not care. You are the man whom I love and if you are doubting yourself, just remember that." She whispered, cupping his face. Aragorn gently gripped her wrist and kissed her palm. Grace smiled and rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes for a few seconds. They stood there for a few minutes, simply taking comfort out of each other's presence, before letting go and leaving the room for dinner.

A few days later, there was some commotion going on around Rivendell. James curiously asked one of the elves, Lindir, what was going on and it turned out that lady Arwen, the daughter of lord Elrond was returning home after spending several years in her grandmother's realm. James felt a bit of excitement at the news. Arwen had always been his secret crush when he had been younger and now he was going to meet the real one.

The next day, he was trying to lift a big rock after having asked permission to use it for training. Lord Elrond had granted it. "Do you need any help?" A melodic voice asked and James looked up to see a elleth standing there. She was wearing a cloak and her hood was up, obscuring her face. "I am alright, my lady, but thank you for offering your services." He said, focusing on the task at hand, before looking back up at hearing her gasp.

"What is it? Is there something wrong" He asked, concerned. The elleth slowly looked down at her arm and James felt his eyes widen as he realised what had happened. How could he not have realised that the words that she had greeted him with, were the same words as on his arm? He put the rock down and slowly walked towards the woman. She looked up at him, the hood still obscuring her face. "I have waited for so long to hear those words and I am so glad to finally hear them." She said, offering him her hand.

Etiquette was something that they had also learned, so James gently gripped the offered hand and kissed the woman's knuckles. "What is your name?" She asked, her voice vaguely familiar. "My name is James, my lady." He said, nodding his head. The woman raised her hands and lifted her hood up, revealing herself to be none other than Arwen herself. "Wow." James muttered softly. Arwen chuckled softly. "Are you saying that because of my beauty or for an other reason?" She asked teasingly.

James motioned with his head. "Well, I never thought that I would be so lucky for someone as beautiful as you to be my soulmate." He said, looking down shyly. Arwen gently lifted his head back up with a smile. She looked into his green eyes and kissed the tip of his nose, before turning around and walking away. James just stared after her in a daze. One thought broke him out of his reverie: _'Lord Elrond is going to kill me.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter or the chapter after that will slowly lead us into the events of "the hobbit." Mostly because I'm anxious to start the adventure. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	5. A journey begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Years pass by and it's time for an "unexpected" journey.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

It turned out that lord Elrond would not kill James, although he wasn't the most supporting either. Only the fact that James would have the life span of an elf stopped him from fully being opposed to it. He made James swear to his life that he would take care of Arwen and the younger man immediately promised that. Only then did Elrond allow James to court Arwen, although he kept an close eye on them. 

Eva and Victoria were ecstatic for both James and Grace that they had found their soulmates so soon. They hoped that they would be so lucky too, but unfortunately, one of them would have to wait for quite a while. Grace and James spent almost every single free moment with their soulmates, which became a bit harder for Grace as Aragorn joined the rangers and was away often, but he did his best to return to Rivendell as often as possible.

Grace was allowed to join him at times and they became known as Strider and Striker. One of the most effective ranger pairs in history. They helped people and protected them from orcs. Grace always felt good, whenever they managed to save people. They saved each other's lives quite a bit and always patched each other's wounds if they got injured. They hated seeing the other like that, but they knew that they wouldn't have it any other way. 

Several years later, while Grace and Aragorn were back in Rivendell, Gandalf came for a visit. He said that he had managed to convince Thorin Oakenshield to start a quest and he wanted the group of four to join the company. James, Eva, Grace and Victoria were all for it, but Aragorn wasn't quite sure yet. "What is this quest about?" He asked, his hand tightly holding Grace's hand. 

Gandalf tried to calm him down. "Oh, it is just to try and reclaim Erebor." He said. Aragorn raised an eyebrow. "Erebor? The mountain that was claimed by a fire breathing dragon?" He asked incredulously, his grip on Grace tightening. The woman in question put her free hand on his arm to calm him down. "We will be fine, _meleth nín._ I promise." She said, her elvish having improved over the years. 

Aragorn bit his lip, before looking at Grace. "Alright. You can go in this quest. On one condition." He said, turning towards Gandalf. The wizard raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?" He asked. Aragorn raised his head. "I will be going too." He said, surprising the group of four. Aragorn had been part of the fellowship of the ring, not Thorin's company. Gandalf was surprised as well as was lord Elrond.

"My dear boy, you do not have to worry. I am certain that the quest will succeed without a problem." The wizard said, but Aragorn was completely unconvinced. "If you think that I am going to let my soulmate face a dragon on her own, then you are sorely mistaken." He said determinedly. Gandalf and lord Elrond shared a look, before turning back at the stubborn ranger. "Very well. You shall go with them." Gandalf said. 

Aragorn finally smiled again and nodded. Grace smiled as well and hugged him. The others looked at each other and shrugged. Another person on the quest might just prove beneficial. Gandalf soon left to visit a certain hobbit. Eva and Victoria decided to follow him earlier than expected, knowing that Bilbo would be very underprepared for the company arriving at his house, because of the wizard's stubbornness.

\-------------------

Bilbo Baggins was very surprised to find two human women on the bench in front of his house, seemingly waiting for him. "Can I help you?" He asked. One of the women, who had light brown hair and kind blue eyes, smiled at him. "No, but we can help you. My name is Eva and this is my friend Victoria." She said, gesturing to the other woman, who nodded at him in greeting.

Bilbo nodded in return, before frowning in confusion. "Help me with what exactly? He asked. Eva's smile turned sympathetic. "We are going to help you to prepare for the company that Gandalf is going to get, despite your protests." She said and Bilbo groaned. "I told him that I do not want any adventures." He said and the other woman, Victoria, shrugged. "He is a wizard. Once he gets an idea in his head, good luck trying to get it out of his head." She replied. 

Bilbo groaned again, realising that he had no choice. "How many are coming?" He asked as he invited them in. Eva smiled at him. "Thirteen dwarves, a wizard and three humans, excluding us." She answered. Bilbo sighed, but nodded. He went to his pantry. "Do you think this is enough?" He asked. Victoria motioned her head in answer, knowing that the dwarves ate everything out of it and now they had a few more mouths to feed. 

"I'm not sure. Dwarves eat a lot, so let us use everything." She said, before taking a few plates with food out of the pantry. "Everything?!" Bilbo asked incredulously. Victoria nodded in answer. "Everything, but don't worry. Dwarves prefer meat, so the vegetables are mostly yours. Maybe, you should run a few errands. Just in case. We'll take care if everything here." She replied, putting the plates on the table.

Bilbo sighed, but finally agreed. He grabbed a basket and went out again. In the evening, Victoria, Bilbo and Eva managed to get everything on the table, the women replacing the table more to the hall, so that the group would fit better. Just in time as well, as there was a knock on the door. Bilbo glanced at Victoria and Eva and the nodded at him. He straightened his back and walked towards the door. 

Opening it, he saw a bald dwarf who was carrying two big axes on his back. "Dwalin. At your service." The dwarf greeted, bowing towards him. Bilbo swallowed, but bowed back. "Bilbo Baggins. At yours. Come in." He said, letting the dwarf in. Dwalin walked in and stopped in surprise at seeing Victoria and Eva. They bowed respectfully, greeting him properly. Dwalin replied in the same way, despite his surprise. 

Eva gestured him towards the filled table. "This way, master Dwalin. Supper is ready." She said. Dwalin nodded in gratitude and sat down. "The wizard didn't tell us about women joining us." He said gruffly. Victoria simply shrugged in reply. "Well, not telling people things is something wizards excel at." She said casually. Dwalin nodded at that, before there was another knock on the door. 

Bilbo opened it to see an old dwarf with white hair. "Balin. At your service." He greeted and Bilbo let him in as well. Like Dwalin, Balin was surprised at seeing Eva and Victoria. "Oh dear. The king is not going to like this." He muttered. Eva scoffed at that. "Well, then he is out of luck. We are here, because Gandalf wants us to be here. So if your king is going to have a problem with us being here, he can take it up with him, understood?" She asked and Balin nodded 

Then, there was yet another knock on the door and Eva smiled. If she was not mistaken, then two of her favourite dwarves were arriving. Her suspicion were proven true as a blond and a black-haired dwarf entered the house. The young dwarves were just as surprised, but they quickly greeted them kindly. Kíli tried to flirt with Eva, but the woman simply showed him the words on her arm. 

Kíli winced at the harsh words on her arm. "I'm glad to know that I am not the only one with unkind words." He said, rolling up his sleeve to show his own words. _"If you think that I'm giving you a weapon, dwarf, you're mistaken."_ Eva almost smiled, knowing who said those words. Then, there was another knock and Eva hurried out of the room to see the other dwarves arriving, knowing that it was going to be hilarious.

Sure enough, a big group of dwarves tumbled into the house. Eva and Victoria saw James, Grace and Aragorn standing behind the dwarves with Gandalf, clearly trying not to laugh as they peered into the house. Bilbo sighed at seeing the wizard. He didn't know how, but he felt that his life was about to change and he didn't know if it would be for better or worse. "Gandalf." He greeted, before letting the humans in as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the adventure begins. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	6. Blunt the knives, bend the forks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smash the bottles and burn the corks. Chip the glasses and crack the plates. That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Because dinner had already been set up, there was a lot less chaos and walking around and with Bilbo being warned beforehand, he didn't panic as much, although he still didn't like it. The dwarves had been surprised to see two more women standing there. They had already been surprised at seeing Grace coming with them, but seeing two other women brought forward some worried whispers.

Eva caught bits of how women didn't belong there and how their king wouldn't like it. She just rolled her eyes at it. During dinner, not many people came close to Grace. Not because she didn't do her best to interact with them, but because Aragorn was hovering next to her like a protective shadow. Seeing Bilbo stand in the hallway, Victoria sighed deeply. She reached out, grabbed his arm and put him on her lap like a child. 

Come on, Bilbo. You can not be a good host on an empty stomach." She said, before piling some more food on her plate. He sighed, but started eating. Soon enough, the dwarves started to burp and belch, complimenting the loudest. They all looked up in surprise, when a incredibly loud belch came from Striker AKA Grace. She smiled and patted her stomach. The dwarves started to mutter amongst each other, all very impressed. 

Having eaten their fill, the dwarves started to tour the house with Bilbo following like an anxious shadow. "Exuse me. That is not a dishcloth." He said, ripping the piece of fabric away. "But it's full of holes." One of the dwarves, Bofur, said. Bilbo explained that it was supposed to be like that, before sighing deeply. "Bebother and confusticate these dwarves." He muttered, just as Gandalf walked up to him. 

Eva and James were walking around the house. "Can you believe it? We're in the same place as Bilbo freaking Baggins and Thorin's company." James muttered to his sister and she nodded with a smile. "I know." She squealed softly, before continuing. "I think a certain red-haired elleth is real too." She said. James was confused for a second, before his sister glanced at Kíli and he understood.

Just then, they walked into a room where Dwalin and Balin were talking. Dwalin looked up and saw the two of them. "Are you soulmates or siblings?" He asked. The rangers from before were clearly the former. The siblings replied with the latter. "Has either of you already met your soulmate?" Balin asked. James raised his hand. "I have, but she is in Rivendell." He answered. 

Dwalin scoffed. "What is she doing with those elves?" He asked in a condescending tone and James raised an eyebrow, not liking his tone at all. "She lives there. She is an elf." He said in a low tone. Dwalin scoffed again. "Pointy eared sprites." He muttered, before jumping slightly as the sharp blade of a dagger buried itself into the woodwork, mere inches from his head. "I do not appreciate insults to my soulmate, master dwarf." James growled, before retrieving his dagger and walking out. Eva followed him after a warning look towards Dwalin. 

They walked out of the room, just as another dwarf, Ori, came up to Bilbo with his plate. "Exuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt, but what shall I do with my plate?" He asked politely. Remembering what was going to happen, James, Grace, Eva and Victoria quickly went to stand out of the way, Grace pulling Aragorn with her. Kíli's brother, Fíli, grabbed the plate from Ori and threw it to his brother, who threw it into the kitchen. 

"Excuse me! That is my mother's tableware. It's over a hundred years old!" Bilbo called, before seeing some of the other dwarves playing with the cutlery. "Can you not do that? You'll blunt them." He said. Bofur chuckled. "Oh, you hear that lads? He says we'll blunt the knives." He said with a laugh. The humans shared a look, almost all of them knowing what was going to happen. _"Blunt the knives. Bend the forks."_ Kíli started to sing. _"Smash the bottles and burn the corks."_ His brother took over, before the other dwarves joined in.

_Chip the glasses and crack the plates_

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!_

_Cut the cloth, tread on the fat_

_Leave the bones on the bedroom mat_

_Pour the milk on the pantry floor_

_Splash the wine on every door!_

_Dump the crocks in a boiling bowls_

_Pound them up with a thumping pole_

_When you're finished if they are whole_

_Send them down the hall to roll_

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!_

During the song, the dwarves threw the tableware and the cutlery over to each other expertly. The humans stayed out of the way, although they couldn't stop themselves from either tapping their feet or nodding along with the song, big smiles on their faces. Even though they had their flaws and weren't as good as Lord of the Rings, they had still enjoyed The Hobbit movies and now those movies were playing out right in front of them. 

At the end of the song, Bilbo walked into the kitchen and saw that everything was clean again. The dwarves all laughed at his face, before there were some powerful knocks on the door. Everything fell quiet. "He's here." Gandalf muttered, before standing up to open the door. The humans stayed back a bit, knowing that their latest quest was a very stubborn and suspicious individual. 

They heard Thorin Oakenshield talk to Gandalf for a few seconds, before insulting Bilbo and walking further. He stopped at seeing the group of humans. "Gandalf, what are these humans doing here?" He asked gruffly, turning to the wizard. Eva spoke up, before Gandalf could. ""These humans" as you call them, are here to help you reclaim your homeland on the wizard's request." She replied.

Thorin immediately scowled at her. "We do not need any help." He growled, but Eva was unimpressed. "Well, that's too damn bad for you, then. If you want to be cooked by trolls or get killed by an orc, be my guest, but we are here to make sure that does not happen." She said, crossing her arms and staring the exiled dwarf king right into his face. There was a tense staring contest between the two of them, before Gandalf interrupted them. 

"Perhaps, we can talk about this later. Let us go back to the dining room." He said and the other dwarves meekly followed his request. Eva kept staring at Thorin until James pulled her away. Once in the dining room, James carefully put some warm soup in front of the king and Thorin immediately began to eat it. "What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come?" Balin asked as that was the reason why Thorin was later than the others. 

"Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms." Thorin replied, resulting in the other dwarves cheering. Dwalin asked if Dain from the Iron Hills were with them as Dain was Thorin's cousin. Thorin sighed and said that they weren't, that the quest was theirs alone. This caught Bilbo's attention and after Gandalf requested the hobbit to give them a little more light, the wizard pulled out a map with a mountain on it.

Eva, who had been standing in the hall with the other humans, gave Bilbo a candle, so that he could see it better. ""The lonely mountain."" Bilbo read out loud. Apparently birds had been seen returning to Erebor, which meant that the regin of the beast was at its end. Bilbo perked up in worry at the last part. "What beast?" He asked nervously. "Oh, that would be a reference to Smaug the terrible. Airborne firebreather. Teeth like razors. Claws like meat hooks. Extremely fond of precious metals." Bofur replied.

"Yes, I know what a dragon is." Bilbo said, even more nervous. Ori jumped up. "I'm not afraid. I'm up for it. I'll give him some dwarvish iron right up his jacksie." He said boldly, making the humans chuckle as his older brother, Dori, pulled him back down on his seat. "That task would be difficult enough with an army behind us, but we're just with thirteen and not exactly thirteen of the best or brightest." Balin said. 

Eva cleared her throat. "Thirteen? Did we become invisible or something?" She asked rhetorically. Thorin scowled again. "It is not certain yet that you will be joining us, so until then: be silent." He said, before turning back. Eva stuck out her tongue at his back, before walking out of the hall. James wanted to follow her, but Grace stopped him. "Let her be for a few minutes. She will be fine" She said.

Gandalf spoke up. "Since the other dwarven lords will not help you, it might be for the best to accept all the help that you can get. Lady Eva and her friends are very well trained with weapons and fighting. I'm sure that they will be a considerable help to the quest. "He spoke up in the group's favour. Thorin looked at him. "They will only be a burden." He replied. Now, Victoria was the one to scowl, having had enough. 

"We will _not_ be a burden. We know how to handle ourselves in a fight. Striker and Strider are rangers for crying out loud. Gandalf is right. You need all the help that you can get. So, are going to be an insufferable prick about it or are you going to put aside your pride for just a second and accept the help that we are offering?" She said to the surprise of her friends, who had never seen her this angry. 

Thorin stared at her, before sighing. "Very well. You can come, but you better not stand in our way." He said and Victoria nodded in reply. The dwarves muttered amongst each other for a few seconds,, before Fíli spoke up. "We may be few in number, even with them offering their services, but we're all fighters. To the last dwarf and human!" He said strongly. Kíli spoke up as well. "We also have a wizard in our company. I bet that Gandalf has killed hundreds of dragons in his time." He said. 

At this, Gandalf started to protest slightly, even as the dwarves turned to him. "How many dragons have you killed?" Dori asked. Gandalf started to cough from his pipe. "Come on, Gandalf. Give us a number." Grace said teasingly, knowing the answer was zero. At this the dwarves started to shout amongst each other, until Thorin roared and everyone fell quiet. The exiled king gave a speech about how others would have seen the signs as well and that this was their chance to take back Erebor.

Balin protested that there was no way into the mountain. Gandalf said that that wasn't entirely true, before conjuring up a key that was given to him by Thorin's father, Thrain. He said that there was a hidden passage and that the answer was hidden in the map, but that he didn't have to skill to find it. However, there were others in the world, who could. This led to the discussion of the burglar and Victoria started to stand behind Bilbo

The poor hobbit didn't realise at first that they meant him, protesting that he never had stolen a thing in his life once he did realise. Balin and Dwalin agreed with him. "The wild is no place for gentle folk, who can't fight or fend for themselves." The latter said, looking at Victoria, who simply flipped him off. This opened up a loud discussion among the dwarves, which was ended by Gandalf using some of his powers and vouching for the hobbit. 

Thorin once again agreed with him and ordered Balin to give the hobbit the contract, despite said hobbit protesting loudly. "It's nothing special. It's just the usual. Time required, expenses, funeral arrangements and so forth." He said. Despite his protests, Bilbo started to read the contract. Um, shouldn't the reward be 1/19th part be now that Strider, Striker, Eva, James and Victoria are coming with us?" He asked. 

Eva, who had come back in and smiled at hearing that they were coming along, shrugged. "I think that I speak for all of us when I say that we are not here for the gold, but because it is right. Well, Strider is here, because he would not let Striker go on this quest alone." She added, earning a few chuckles from the dwarves and a mock scowl from the man she mentioned. That's when Bilbo got to the injuries part. "Incineration?" He asked out loud at reading that part.

"Oh, aye. He'll melt off the flesh of your bones in the blink of an eye. Think furnace with wings. Flash of light, searing pain and poof, you're nothing more than a pile of ash." Bofur replied, continuing on despite Bilbo's paling face and several warnings from the humans to stop talking. Soon enough, Bilbo fainted and Victoria caught him. "Very helpful, Bofur." She muttered, giving him an unamused look and carrying Bilbo to his bed. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, that was a big one. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	7. The first steps

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

"I'm alright. Let me just sit quietly for a moment." Bilbo said after he had woken up, accepting the tea that Grace gave him.  "You've been sitting quietly for far too long." Gandalf said, while Grace walked out of the room. She saw Aragorn sitting in a corner, looking pensive. She sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her. "This might be a dangerous journey." He said and Grace chuckled.

"You're a ranger, _Meleth nín_. Where is your sense of adventure?" She asked teasingly, poking him in his side. He chuckled and kissed her temple. "Just promise me that you will not be going looking for trouble." He said and Grace gave him an insulted look. "Strider, I do not go looking for trouble, trouble goes looking for me." She replied and he laughed at that, before they saw Bilbo walking out of the living room, having refused to be the burglar for the quest..

"It appears that we have lost our burglar. Probably for the best. The odds were always against us, even with the humans offering their help." Balin said from another part of the house, also seeing Bilbo walking away. Thorin frowned a bit at the last part. "What do you think of them?" He asked. If there was anyone, whose advice he trusted, it was Balin. The older dwarf shrugged slightly in answer.

"They are very headstrong. I will give them that. Two of them are rangers, so they know how to defend themselves and the other man just barely missed Dwalin with his dagger after he insulted his soulmate. It was clear that it was his intention to miss as a warning. I do not know much about the other two women yet." He replied and Thorin nodded at that. He glanced at the two rangers sitting down the hall. He hoped that they knew what they were doing. He had no time to play babysitter.

They talked for a while longer. Balin told Thorin that he didn't have to do this. The dwarves had a new life in the blue mountains thanks to him, but Thorin insisted that he must. He said that his father and grandfather dreamt of the day that Erebor would be reclaimed and he did not want to dishonour their memory. Balin finally agreed and he knew that the rest of the company would be with him as well, even the peculiar humans. 

The dwarves all went to the living room, smoking their pipes and humming lowly. The group of humans were sitting outside the living room, simply listening to the song. Aragorn had his arms tightly around Grace and James was resting his arms behind his head with his eyes closed, thinking of his own soulmate. Eva and Victoria were simply listening, relaxing slightly as the song calmed them. After a few seconds, Thorin started to sing, his voice low and booming 

_Far over the misty mountains cold_

_To dungeons deep and caverns old_

_We must away ere break of day_

_To find our long-forgotten gold_

At this, the other dwarves joined in. Their voices were just as low as they sang of a place long gone. The humans from earth shared a look and silently agreed to do their best to help them get their home back and make sure that everyone would live to tell the tale. Even though Thorin had been a jerk to them, he didn't deserve to die. Yes, they would do their best to save the line of Durin.

_The pines were roaring on the height_

_The winds were moaning in the night_

_The fire was red, it flaming spread_

_The trees like torches blazed with light_

After the song, everyone went to bed. The dwarves were kind enough to offer the couches to the women for them to sleep on, although Grace chose to sit down next to Aragorn, using his shoulder/chest as a pillow, his arm tightly around her. James went around the house for a little while, taking several things and put them in a easy place for Bilbo to find and pack. Eva laid two handkerchiefs down on the contract for the gentle hobbit to find. After that they all went to sleep. 

The next morning, Aragorn and Grace were the first ones up and quietly woke up their friends and the dwarves. Grace may or may not have kicked Gandalf to wake him up in retribution for almost leaving Bilbo unprepared for the dwarves, if it had not been for Eva and Victoria. The dwarves were surprised to see the humans up already, but were suitably impressed that they weren't complaining about being up early, having been used to it. 

After a small breakfast, they finally left the hobbit hole. The humans had brought their own horses from Rivendell and the dwarves had ponies. While leaving the Shire, the dwarves started to bet on whether or not the hobbit would show up. Most of them bet that he wouldn't, but some of the dwarves, the humans and Gandalf bet that he would. The disbelievers laughed at that, thinking that they would have a lot of money at the end of the day, but they would be very suprised.

After about half an hour, they heard a familiar voice shouting behind them, calling for them to wait. They turned around and sure enough, there was Bilbo running up to them, backpack on his back and contract in hand. "I signed it." He said, giving the contract to Balin, who immediately inspected it. "Everything appears to be in order. Welcome master Baggins to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." The old dwarf said, resulting in some cheers. 

"Give him a pony." Thorin ordered gruffly. Bilbo immediately started to protest that it wasn't necessary, but Fíli and Kíli simply lifted him up and put him on one of the spare ponies. Eva shared a look with her friends and tried not to laugh at the clearly uncomfortable hobbit on the pony, even as Grace came up to him and helped him to hold the reigns correctly. "Put your hands lower, Bilbo, otherwise she'll never listen to you." She advised, before returning to Aragorn's side. 

A few minutes later, several pouches were flying through the air. "What is that all about?" Bilbo asked Victoria, who was riding next to him. "Oh, they took bets on whether or not you would show up. Most of them bet that you wouldn't." She answered. Bilbo looked up at her. "What did you think?" He asked. Victoria smiled and caught a pouch of money. "My dear Bilbo, me and my friends never doubted you for a second." She said, putting the pouch away. 

Bilbo smiled at that, before sneezing and pulling one of his handkerchiefs out of his pocket. "Two of my handkerchiefs were lying on my contract. A good thing too, otherwise I would have forgotten them." He said, before blowing his nose. Eva and Victoria shared a look and smiled. They went on for a while, seeing many different landscapes and sights. The humans from earth enjoyed the peace and quiet for now, knowing that soon enough, it would be over. 


	8. Stories, rain and trolls

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Eva groaned as she tried to block out Bombur's snoring, but to no avail. Giving up on sleep, she got up and walked around a bit to get feeling in her legs back. They had just passed Bree, where Balin had made new contracts for the humans. She saw that Bilbo was up as well and was "secretly" giving his pony an apple. She smiled at the sight, but stiffened at hearing a screech in the distance. Grace and Aragorn, who had been sitting nearby, also straightened up, hands on the hilt of their weapons. 

Bilbo turned towards them. "What was that?" He asked, hurrying back to the campfire. "Orcs." Kíli muttered, before the humans could. "Orcs?" Bilbo repeated in a nervous tone, standing closer to Grace and Aragorn. "Throat cutters. There will be dozens of them out there." Fíli hummed. Kíli told Bilbo about how orcs attack in the middle of the night, leaving only lots of blood. Poor Bilbo looked incredibly pale, but the two brothers chuckled. 

Grace scowled at them. "Do you think that's funny?" She asked in a low tone. As a ranger, she had seen the damages and destruction that orcs caused. Villages ransacked, innocent people killed just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It gave her nightmares to this day. Aragorn rubbed her back, knowing what she was thinking off. Thorin actually agreed with her.

"Do you think that a night raid by orcs is a joke?" He asked, walking past his nephews. Fíli and Kíli looked down in shame, realising that they had gone too far. "We didn't mean anything by it." Kíli muttered, but it didn't satisfy his uncle. "No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin muttered, before stomping off to the edge of the cliff. Aragorn gave him a look. He didn't appreciate what the two brothers had said either, but that was quite harsh in his opinion.

"Don't mind him. Thorin has more cause than anyone to hate orcs." Balin spoke up, coming to stand with them. At this, Victoria and James also sat back up, having been listening to the conversation. "After the dragon took Erebor, king Thrór tried to reclaim the ancient kingdom if Moria, but our enemy had gotten there first." The old dwarf started to tell. The humans from earth remembered seeing the flashback from the movie and shivered.

"Moria had already been taken by legions of orcs, led by the most vile and disgusting of them all: Azog the Defiler. A pale orc from Gundabad, who had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin." Balin continued and the humans from earth scowled, all vowing to make sure that that wouldn't happen. The old dwarf was visibly hurt by saying the next part. "He began by beheading the king. Thráin, Thorin's father was driven mad by grief. He disappeared and we do not know if he was captured or killed." He said. 

Eva felt a corner of her mouth quirk up at the last part, before continuing to listen. "We were leaderless and defeat was very near. That was when I saw him. The young dwarf prince, fighting against the terrible foe, wielding nothing, but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken." Balin said, voice full of pride. He told about how they had just managed to win the battle, but at a great loss. The dwarves of the company all stared in awe at Thorin and he nodded back at them. 

"What became of the pale orc?" Bilbo asked. "That filth died of his wounds a long time ago." Thorin spat, walking back to his former place. Aragorn looked at his soulmate and saw her looking down at those words. At that moment, he knew that the orc wasn't dead, although he wondered how Grace knew this. Grace saw him look and smiled, softly kissing the corner of his mouth. Soon enough, everyone went to sleep. 

The next day, it started to rain and it didn't stop for the entire day. "Mr Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked grumpily. "It's raining, master Dori and it will continue to rain, until the rain is done." Gandalf replied. Grace sighed, but didn't complain about it, even as Aragorn kept an eye on her. Eva held up her hand above her head and she felt the rain stop falling on her face. James, who was riding next to her, gave her a glance and looked back at the road.

He suddenly looked again, but Eva had put her hand back down. Seeing her brother's glance, she raised an eyebrow. James shrugged in answer. "It almost looked like the rain wasn't hitting you at all, but I was probably mistaken." He said. Eva snorted at that, but let it go. Meanwhile, Bilbo and Gandalf had been talking about the other wizards in Middle-Earth. Victoria and Grace had shared a look at hearing the name of Saruman, knowing what path he would choose later on. 

The next day, it was dry again and at the end of the afternoon, they stopped at a ruin of a farmhouse. Aragorn took Grace aside. "What's wrong, _Meleth nín_? I felt your fear at seeing the ruin." He said. Grace but her lip. "I was here about a year ago. A farmer and his family lived here. A house cannot be destroyed like that in a year's time by any natural means." She replied, bending her words slightly. Aragorn stiffened in understanding and nodded.

During their talk, Gandalf was busy having an argument with Thorin. Like Grace, he suspected that something was wrong and suggested heading on to Rivendell, but Thorin refused because of his hatred and grudge against elves. They kept arguing, until Gandalf left on his horse, fed up with ther dwarf's stubborn behaviour. Aragorn noticed Grace stiffen even more at his departure and wrapped an arm around her, reminding her that he was there to protect her.

By dinnertime, Gandalf still hadn't returned and Bilbo was worried, but the dwarves didn't really care. Seeing Bilbo bring two bowls of food to Fíli and Kíli, the humans from earth shared a look and mentally prepared themselves. Soon enough, the two princes came back and said that trolls had taken some of the ponies and that Bilbo was out there, trying to retrieve them. At this, the company jumped up to go and help the hobbit. 

The humans from earth were ready too, but Thorin shook his head. "You stay here. We can not have you get in the way." He said. Eva gave him an incredulous look. "First you complain about us becoming a burden and now you won't let us help you?" She asked, but Thorin simply glared at her. "I will take the men and that's all that there is to say about this matter." He grumbled, before going to save Bilbo followed by his company. James and Aragorn followed him after tightly hugging Eva and Grace.

Once they were gone, Eva angrily threw her dagger into a nearby tree. "I'm honestly starting to doubt our decision to let him live." She growled. "No, you're not." Victoria replied flippantly. After a few seconds, Eva sighed. "No, I'm not. He is frustratingly stubborn though." She said and Victoria agreed with that. Grace simply looked into the right direction with a worried look on her face. After a few minutes of no one returning, Victoria spoke up.

"Okay, they should be captured by now and we can not go against three giant trolls on our own. What do we do now?" She asked. Eva thought deeply. "We have to play for time, until the dawn comes and Gandalf returns. I once read a story about three women distracting cannibals long enough for help to arrive by reciting Shakespeare. Perhaps, we can do the same." She said and the three women put their heads together to come up with a plan. 

\-------------

Aragorn tried his best to get out of his bounds. The trolls had threatened to kill Bilbo and the company had reluctantly surrendered. He, James, half of the dwarves and Bilbo had been put in sacks and the other half were being turned above a fire right now. The trolls were discussing on what the best way to eat them was. Aragorn could hear James sigh as if he knew about this.

He could see Bilbo trying to come up with a plan, but before he could, the sound of dark cackling filled the air, making everyone jump and look around to the best of their abilities. "What was that, Bert?" One of the trolls asked, but another one shushed him, trying to peer into the darkness of the forest. "Who's there?" He asked, but instead of an answer, three voices started to sing

 _Boys and girls of every age. Wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see. This, our town of Halloween. This is Halloween, this is Halloween. Pumpkins scream in the dead of night."_ At this, three small pumpkins sailed through the air and hit the trolls in their faces. One of the trolls roared with anger and stomped into the tree line, only to find nothing. As if to mock him, the singing continued, coming from a different place. 

 _This is Halloween, everybody make a scene. Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright. It's our town, everybody scream In this town of_ _Halloween._ " After this line, one voice started to sing, high and mad sounding. " _I am the one hiding under your bed. Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red."_ A shadow shot past one of the trolls and something sharp cut into its leg, making him yelp in pain and jump around on one foot. 

"Bert, I really don't like this. I heard stories about ghosts haunting mountains." The troll said, his voice shaking in fear. Aragorn frowned at that. The leader hit him on the head. "Be quiet, you fool." It growled. The singing continued once again. Another voice sounded, low and dangerous. " _I_ _am the one hiding under your stairs. Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair."_  The other voices joined in again.

 _This is Halloween, this is Halloween Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!"_  Everytime the word "Halloween" was said, another shadow shot past the trolls, hurting them and the trolls just couldn't manage to catch them as they didn't know where they would come from next. The voices continued singing. " _I_ _n this town, we call home. Everyone hail to the pumpkin song. In this town, don't we love it now? Everybody's waiting for the next surprise."_

 _"'Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can. Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll scream!"_ A shadow jumped from the trees, over the fire and cut one of the trolls in its face, before disappearing again. The troll growled and followed the shadow, only to come up empty once again.  _This is Halloween. Red 'n' black, and slimy green Aren't you scared?!"_ The voices boomed and the cowardly troll nodded.

 _Well, that's just fine. Say it once, say it twice. Take a chance and roll the dice. Ride with the moon in the dead of night. Everybody scream, everybody scream! In our town of Halloween!"_ The voices went softer at this, almost inaudible, but still there. Only now did Aragorn look back at James and saw his smirk. His blood froze in fear as he finally understood. ' _Grace! You shouldn't be here! It's not safe!'_  He thought as if his soulmate could hear him.

Another voice sounded, at first really high, before going really low. "I _am the clown with the tear-away face. Here in a flash and gone without a trace."_  A shadow shot past a troll, cutting him in his knees. The troll stumbled and tried to catch himself with the end of branch that half of the group were tied to. The branch flew from the fire and fell into the grass nearby. The dwarves were hurt, but alive.

By now, even the lead troll was scared, but the singing continued. The voices were really soft again " _I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?" I am the wind blowing through your hair._  As if on cue, the wind began to blow as the voices continued. " _I am the shadow on the moon at night. Filling your dreams to the brim with fright._ Once again, nature decided to help as a cloud covered the almost completely disappeared moon. 

 _This is Halloween, this is Halloween Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!"_  The voices went really high, resembling the voices of children. " _Tender lumplings everywhere. Life's no fun without a good scare. That's our job, but we're not mean. In our town of Halloween. In this town. Don't we love it now? Everybody's waiting for the next surprise."_ The trolls kept trying to get the dwarves back, but the shadows cut them everytime they tried

 _"Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back._ _And scream like a banshee. Make you jump out of your skin. This is Halloween, everybody scream Won't ya please make way for a very special guy"_  Bilbo looked up at this and saw Gandalf climbing the rocks, behind which the sun was slowly coming up. The rocks were blocking the sunlight from reaching the trolls and turning them into stone. 

 _Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin patch Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King, now! This is Halloween, this is Halloween Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! In this town we call home Everyone hail to the pumpkin song."_ At this, Gandalf appeared. "The dawn will take you all!" He shouted, before using his staff to split the rock in two, revealing the sun. The trolls immediately turned to stone, the minute that the sunrays hit their skin. 

Realising that they were safe, the dwarves cheered loudly. Aragorn sagged in his bonds, relieved like he never had been before. Gandalf quickly came down and helped them out of their situation. "Mr. Gandalf. Were those voices and shadows also your magic?" Dori asked, once they were free and dressed. Gandalf shook his head with a laugh. "Oh, no. That was not my doing at all." He said, just as three hooded figures appeared from the forest's edge. 

They lifted their hoods to reveal three smiling women. "Well, that was a lot of fun." Victoria commented lightly. Aragorn immediately ran towards Grace and hugged her tightly in relief. The dwarves were staring at them with open mouths and they simply smiled and waved in reply. In Rivendell, they had learned to trade in their lesser strength for speed and Eva, who had always been a good climber and jumper, had been the one to cut the face of the troll. 

Grace thought that she looked a bit like an elf, when she had done that. The dwarves all nodded at them in gratitude and they nodded back with smiles on their faces. After that, they relaxed slightly, relieved that they had survived the ordeal, although Thorin glanced at the women in suspicion. Eva had mentioned being cooked by a troll in Bag End, but they couldn't possibly have known about this, could they? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story that Eva mentions is a genuine hobbit fanfiction on Fanfiction.net. It's called "the courage of the heart" and it's really good. The cannibals mentioned are of course the trolls
> 
> I know that "this is Halloween" isn't exactly a scary song, but the trolls aren't exactly the smartest of the bunch. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	9. Running and Rivendell

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Once everything was back in its order, the company started to look around. Gandalf and Thorin realised that the trolls needed to have a face nearby as they couldn't move in daylight. They simply followed the foul smell and found it and all its treasures within. Grace refused to go in, always having had a strong sense of smell and the stench was nearly enough to knock her out. Aragorn and  Victoria stayed outside with her, while James, Eva and some of the dwarves went inside. 

Eva held her sleeve in front of her mouth and nose, trying to keep the stench away a bit as they ventured deeper into the caves. Gandalf and Thorin found two elvish swords and even though the latter wanted to put his down first, because of his disgust for elves, Gandalf managed to convince him that there was no finer blade in Middle-Earth. Eva snooped around and found a pair of nice daggers. 

Holding them up against the dim light, she inspected them. They were a bit blunt, but that could be helped. Satisfied, Eva took them and went out of the cave, having had enough of the stench. James stayed for a bit longer and found a long and thin sword and one broader sword. Knowing that Aragorn and Grace had more than enough weapons, he took the two swords for him and Victoria. 

Outside of the cave, Grace stayed as far away from the cave as she could, while also staying in sight of the rest of the group. Her hand was tightly entwined with Aragorn's. Even though she had known about the trolls, it had still shaken her up to see her soulmate in danger. She shivered slightly at the thought of what lay ahead: goblins, Azog, spiders, Smaug, the battle of the five armies. She suddenly realised that Thorin wasn't the only banished king that she had to protect.

Aragorn glanced at her in concern. "Are you alright?" He asked and Grace shook herself out of her thoughts, smiling at him. "I was just lost in thought, _Meleth nín_. Nothing more." She replied, resting her head against his. Knowing what was about to come, she saved her strength and energy. Aragorn simply held her gently, slightly worried about her. She had been acting oddly ever since they had started on this quest and he didn't know why. 

Just then, the others came out of the cave. Gandalf gave Bilbo a small elvish sword that he had found and James gave the thin sword to Victoria, who thanked him with a hug. They suddenly heard something approaching them at a fast rate and armed themselves, the humans from earth joining in, so they wouldn't look suspicious. Soon enough, a sleigh that was pulled by rabbits appeared from the undergrowth.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" An old man dressed in brown screamed and Gandalf relaxed. "Radagast. Radagast the brown." He said and Grace smirked. "Doctor who is that?" She muttered and her friends snorted. Aragorn gave her a confused look, but she waved him off. "It's a joke between the four of us. You would not understand." She said, even though she was getting tired from lying. She resolved herself to ask lord Elrond if she could tell him the truth. 

Meanwhile, Radagast and Gandalf had been talking. Radagast had gone to the ruins of Dol Guldur and had seen ghosts there and a necromancer. Then, they heard a loud howl and everyone immediately was on their guard. "Was that a wolf?" Bilbo asked, but Victoria shook her head, unsheating her new sword. "No, Bilbo. That was not a wolf." She said, just as a warg appeared from the trees and pounced in the company. 

Dwalin bashed his head in and Grace readied her bow and arrow and shot the second warg, before the company even knew that it was there. Thorin quickly stabbed it with his sword to finish the job. "Warg scouts, which means an orc pack isn't far behind." He said, pulling his sword out of the dead beast and nodding at Grace. "Orc pack?" Bilbo repeated incredulously. That didn't sound good. Aragorn unconsciously grabbed Grace's hand.

Gandalf asked Thorin about who he told of his quest. The dwarf replied that he hadn't told anyone, giving the humans a suspicious look. Grace scowled at him. "If we had snitched on you, do you really think that I would have shot that warg?" She asked and Thorin had to reluctantly concede at that. If they wanted him dead, she would have let it finish the job, if the company had failed to kill it.

Radagast offered to distract them, but Gandalf wasn't certain. These are Gundabad orcs. They will outrun you." He said. Eva leaned slightly closer to hear one of her favourite lines. "These are Rhosgobel rabbits. I'd like to see them try." Radagast replied. Gandalf reluctantly agreed, knowing that they didn't have many options. Radagast jumped on his sleigh and was off quickly. Grace squeezed her soulmate's hand and looked at her friends. "Scene 88." She muttered and the others nodded, before the company ran into a different direction. 

From then on it was just a lot of running as they tried to stay out of sight. It was a switch between running and hiding behind rocks. Aragorn didn't let go of Grace's hand during the entire time. It went well for a few minutes, until one of the orcs caught their scent and jumped on the rock that they were hiding behind. After a nod from Thorin, Kíli shot the beast and the company killed it, but not before it let out a screech that alerted the other orcs.

They ran again, this time with even more haste. After a while, it seemed that Gandalf had disappeared. Thorin ordered the company to make a circle, so that they couldn't be caught by surprise from any side. Kíli, Grace and Aragorn used their bows and arrows to shoot the incoming numbers. Suddenly, Gandalf appeared from behind a rock. "This way, you fools!" He shouted and Thorin quickly ordered the company to follow him. 

The three archers slowly backed up to the rock, still shooting every warg that came too close. "Go. We'll be right behind you." Aragorn said to Grace, but she shook her head, shooting another orc. "We are a team. I am not going without you." She replied, just as Thorin called them back, the rest of the company already safe. The three shared a look, before taking off towards the rock at the same time.

Grace made sure that Kíli kept up by grabbing his arm and pulling him along, remembering that Gimli had trouble doing the same in the Two Towers. They jumped over the rock and slid into a cave. Just after they stood up again, they heard a horn from above them. A few seconds later, an orc body fell into the cave, arrows sticking out of its back. The company immediately jumped back, before realising that it was dead. 

"Elves." Thorin spat, as he pulled out one of the arrows. The humans, now including Aragorn, shared a look and smiled, knowing exactly who it was. They found a tunnel and followed it. After a while, the humans felt magic wash over them and took deep breaths, feeling more relaxed. Victoria heard Bilbo ask about it and smiled, knowing that he should come to love the place later on. They got out of the tunnel and the humans smiled at the familiar sight of Rivendell.

After scolding Thorin for a bit, Gandalf led the way and after a while, they arrived at a courtyard. Lindir walked down a flight of stairs to meet them. "Mithrandir, lady Grace, lady Victoria, lady Eva, lord James, lord Estel. It is good to see that you are safe and back with us." He greeted. The humans smiled and greeted him back. The dwarves muttered amongst each other in confusion. "Who are Estel and Grace?" Ori asked naively, turning around in a circle to see if there were any more people with them.

Grace turned around. "That would be us. Strider and Striker are our ranger names. Hello." She replied, waving at them. They had decided to keep Aragorn's real name a secret from the dwarves, just in case. The dwarves all nodded at this, before a horn sounded and they saw a group of riders heading their way. Gandalf and the humans quickly went to the side, while the dwarves bunched together in the middle of the courtyard, ready for a fight.

James shook his head at this. "They do realise that they have nothing to fear right, right?" He muttered to his sister, who shrugged in reply. The elves rode circles around the dwarves for a while, before finally stopping. Lord Elrond greeted Gandalf and after they spoke in Elvish for a bit, the elf turned to the humans. _"It is good to have you back with us."_ He said in Elvish, giving them an elven greeting.

_"It is good to be back, my lord Elrond."_ Eva replied after they had returned the greeting. There were some shocked mutterings amongst the dwarves at hearing her speak the language of their enemies. Eva sighed and turned towards them. "Oh, come off it. We have been living here for the past ten years and yes: we can speak their language. No: we will not tell any secrets to them and now that we have that out of the way, let's continue." She said.

The company still muttered amongst each other, but she let them be. Bofur suddenly looked to the top of the stairs and his eyes widened. "Well, I'll be blessed." He muttered. The humans followed his eyeline and smiled at seeing Arwen stand at the top of the stairs. The elleth quickly ran down and pretty much threw herself into James's arms, the young man barely being able to catch himself from falling backwards.

Aragorn quickly supported him and the others laughed about it. After lord Elrond offered food to the company and they finally accepted after a few seconds, they were led inside. Lord Elrond walked next to Eva. "We have a new guest in the healing rooms. My soldiers brought him in. He is in an enchanted sleep, until he is better." He said cryptically, before walking to his chambers to get out of his armour.

Victoria gave her friend a confused look, having no idea what the elf had meant. "What was he talking about?" She asked. Eva leaned closer to her. "I told lord Elrond about a prisoner and apparently he has succeeded in freeing him." She whispered. Victoria leaned even closer. "Who is it?" She asked. Eva smirked a bit. _"Thorin's father."_ She replied in Elvish, enjoying the shocked look on her friend's face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don't know: "scene 88" is the scene where the dwarves get chased. The actors hated it, because they had to run nonstop, until even the fittest of them needed to rest.
> 
> Read and review. See you next time


	10. Peace and quiet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The company gets a break in Rivendell. Victoria tells a familiar sounding story to the dwarves.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The first thing that the humans did was take a long bath. Once they were fresh and rested, they rejoined the company, who had several questions for them. They answered them as patiently as they could, although they didn't appreciate any bad words about the elves. Once they were finished, Eva asked Thorin to join her as she had something to show him. After a bit of thinking, he agreed as long as Dwalin went with them. 

The group of three walked through Rivendell and stopped at a certain door. Eva carefully opened it and led the dwarves inside. There was a bed with curtains around it. Eva pulled the curtains back and revealed the old dwarf sleeping on the bed. Thorin's eyes widened and his knees buckled. Dwalin just managed to catch him, before he fell to the ground, although he was shocked too.

Dwalin helped his king to a chair. "Father? How?" Thorin whispered, looking from his father to Eva. The woman smiled kindly. "I had a vision or a dream in which I saw your father being held captive by orcs in an abandoned castle. I told lord Elrond about it and he saved your father. He is in a healing sleep to recover from everything" She explained. Thorin looked at her, eyes filled with gratitude and, for the very first time, kindness. "Thank you." He said. Eva nodded and left the room. 

That evening, the company joined the elves for dinner. Even Thorin finally showed up after Dwalin had finally convinced him to eat something. They all looked up and stared as the women came in, for once wearing dresses in the cases of Grace, Eva and Victoria. Aragorn simply smiled at them, pride and love in his eyes as he looked at Grace. James had the exact same expression as he saw Arwen.

The women smiled as they joined the others. Aragorn and James gently grabbed the hands of their respective soulmates and kissed their knuckles. They sat down and lord Elrond inspected the weapons that they had found. Thorin's sword was Ocrist and was made by the lord's kin. Victoria, Eva and James showed their new weapons too. Grace and Aragorn had agreed that they had weapons enough.

Their weapons were also elven made, but didn't have any names as far as lord Elrond knew. They were allowed to name their new weapons themselves. Eva thought deeply for a minute. " _"Halhigil."_ " She finally said. Lord Elrond nodded in approval. "Hidden dagger. Very fitting." He commented. Victoria looked at her own sword. It was as thin as a branch, but strong. " _"Hathellas"._ Leaf blade" She spoke up. "Oh, good one." James said, before looking at his sword. 

"Hmm. I think that I'll choose the name " _Aegros."_ It means "piercing rain."" He said. Everyone nodded in approval. Grace glanced at Aragorn, before turning to lord Elrond. "My lord Elrond. May I speak with you privately after dinner?" She asked. Lord Elrond glanced at her and agreed. He asked what the quest was about as if he didn't know it already. Thorin didn't answer, but left the table, no doubt to go back to his sleeping father.

"Change the tune, why don't you? I feel like I'm at a funeral." James heard Nori say and groaned, knowing what was coming. Sure enough, Bofur climbed on a pedestal and began to sing _. "There is an inn, there is an inn. A merry old inn beneath an old grey hill, And there they brew a beer so brown that the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill. The ostler has a tipsy cat that plays a five-stringed fiddle; and up and down he runs his bow, now squeaking high, now purring low, now sawing in the middle."_ He sang. 

The dwarves joined in and started to throw food. Aragorn and James shielded their soulmates from the flying food. Eva facepalmed and Victoria was tapping her foot on the beat. The song continued.  _"So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle, a jig that would wake the dead: He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune, while the landlord shook the Man in the Moon: 'It's after three!' he said."_ The dwarves cheered loudly, once the song was over and food kept flying.

That night, the company, bar Grace and Thorin and plus Arwen were sitting together outside by a campfire. Some weren't really happy with an elf sitting nearby, but most of them didn't actually mind. After a few minutes, Grace returned with a solemn look on her face and took Aragorn with her. The dwarves looked at the other humans in concern, but they simply shrugged, not knowing what was happening either. Figuring that it was something between soulmates, Bofur turned to Victoria. 

"Tell us, lass. Do you have any spooky stories for us?" He asked. Victoria thought deeply. "Well, there was this sort of play that I saw as a child. I don't fully remember what it was about, but one scene stuck with me." She said. Arwen and the dwarves all leaned closer to hear the story. "So, from what I remember, the play was about a small, magical ring." Victoria started, asking Arwen for one of her rings and holding it up. 

"Imagine that this ring was the one ring." She said and her choice of words told her friends exactly which story this was. The dwarves all nodded, not knowing that the story technically hadn't happened yet. "So, the ring was found by a really nice and sweet man. He was pretty much like Bilbo if you want to try and imagine him." Victoria continued, pointing at the hobbit. The dwarves nodded again, all listening intently. 

"The ring lengthened his life, but what the poor man did not know was that the ring was evil." Victoria's voice dropped to a whisper. The dwarves were now even more interested. "While it did lengthen his life, it also corrupted his mind, until he couldn't live without it. After several decades, he finally lets go of the ring and his nephew seeks out to destroy it. The scene that stuck with me was just before going on the quest." Victoria said, giving the ring to Bilbo for a moment.

"The man helps his nephew prepare for his quest, when he sees the ring again and it tempts him once more. Now, imagine if Bilbo is the nephew and I'm the man for a second." She said, before looking at the ring in Bilbo's hand and pretending to be surprised, rubbing her hands. "Oh, my old ring. I would very much like to hold it again. One last time." She said, directly quoting the movie. 

She silently motioned with her hand for Bilbo to take the ring away which he did. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Suddenly, Victoria whirled on the poor hobbit and reached out to the ring with a loud snarl. The hobbit, elleth and dwarves all jumped at the sudden action and at the uncharacteristic snarl on the woman's face. Victoria smiled again and ruffled Bilbo's hair, showing that she didn't mean it.

"I got nightmares for at least a week after that." She finished the story. The dwarves all muttered amongst themselves about the story. Bilbo gave Arwen her ring back. Eva and Victoria shared a look and the former raised an eyebrow, while the latter simply shrugged. Suddenly, Eva noticed Aragorn storming through the halls. She stood up and followed him. "Estel, wait!" She called. "Leave me alone!" The man called back, an angry and harsh tone in his voice.  Eva stopped in surprise and watched as he disappeared down the hall.

She turned around and saw Grace standing there, tears in her eyes. She suddenly realised that Grace had told her soulmate the truth about where they came from. She simply wrapped her friend into a hug and held her as she cried. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't lie anymore." Grace sobbed. Eva simply shushed her and kept holding her, until she finally calmed down. Eva led her to her room and waited until she was asleep, before leaving. She hoped that Aragorn would come back soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	11. Maps and trouble

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise 

Aragorn didn't show himself during the next day. Victoria and James had been told of the situation and James had asked if he could tell Arwen as well. He was allowed and while the elleth was shocked, she understood and still supported him. Now understanding what was wrong with Aragorn, she tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't even open the door for her or anyone in general. 

Grace was depressed. She had told her soulmate the truth and now he wouldn't even talk to her. She remembered his shocked and betrayed look, when she had told him that she had known who he was, the minute that she met him. Her friends hated to see her like that, but any attempt to get Aragorn out of his room failed. Giving up on it for now, they returned to where Thorin, Balin, Bilbo and Gandalf were talking. 

Thorin was being his usual stubborn self, even though lord Elrond had saved his father. Eva had enough. "Oh, for heaven's sake, Thorin. If it wasn't for lord Elrond, your father would have been dead by now. Just show him the map, so that we can go on." She said, not really in a good mood. Her friend was depressed and no one could help her, since her soulmate was being as stubborn as the dwarf on front of her. 

Thorin finally and reluctantly showed the map to lord Elrond. It turned out that they would need light of a certain moon, which conveniently was shining that night. In the moonlight, runes appeared on the map, saying that the hidden door would open, when the last light of Durin's Day would fail on it. Now that they had instructions, the company was getting ready to leave again. Before they could, however, Lindir appeared and asked if the humans could come with him. 

A bit confused, the group followed him followed him. They arrived at a open spot in the forest that was around Rivendell. At the other side stood a blond elleth: lady Galadriel. The humans immediately bowed towards her. Galadriel simply smiled kindly at them. "Welcome, travellers from earth." She greeted and the group didn't question how she knew about it. Her powers were famous even here. 

The powerful elf spoke with each of them separately. She told James to be strong as the earth. She told Grace to not give up hope and be as light as air. She told Eva that happiness and love could be found in the most unexpected of places, like water from an unexpected well. It was when she talked to Victoria that things got interesting. "I know what you are waiting for, young one. But know that the best things take a long time to prepare. Your fire will show itself one day." She said. 

Victoria simply nodded, guessing what she meant with the first part, but utterly confused on the second part. At that, Galadriel started to walk back to Rivendell. "Mithrandir and I will keep Saruman occupied. You better leave quick." She said, before disappearing. Victoria, James and Eva immediately went to warn the company, but Grace went to the chambers of her soulmate. Arriving there, she knocked on the door. "Aragorn? Are you in there?" She asked. There was no reply.

She sighed, before looking around to see if anyone was there. "We are leaving now. I don't blame you for being angry with me or refusing to go with us. I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for everything. It hurt my heart so much to lie to you every day. I love you, Aragorn and I always will." She whispered, before leaving. On the other side of the door, Aragorn was standing with one hand against the door and the other on the handle. One tear rolled down his cheek and he closed his eyes. 

The company snuck away and went into the wild. Only Arwen and Galadriel knew that they were gone. Eva saw that Thorin was reluctant to leave and patted his shoulder. "Think of it in this way: when your father wakes up, it might be to a reclaimed Erebor." She said, lord Elrond having told them that Thráin had to sleep for a few more weeks. Thorin looked at her and actually showed her a tiny smile.

"I guess that you are right." He replied, before ordering a hesitant Bilbo to follow them, which he did. Eva looked at the company and saw Grace walking alone. It was odd not to see Aragorn walking beside her and seeing several concerned glances from some of the dwarves, she knew that they felt the same. She walked towards her friend and wrapped an arm around her. 

"He will see reason, Grace. I just know it. And if he doesn't, I'm sure that Gandalf will knock it into him with his staff." She said, making her friend laugh. Smiling at seeing her friend happier, she patted her shoulder and continued on. They travelled like that for a while and the weather took a turn for the worse. It started to rain and storm, just as they had to walk across a very narrow edge. Suddenly, the mountain that they were walking on rumbled.

Eva cursed softly. "Shit. Forgot about the stone giants." She muttered, her words unheard in the storm. A couple of giants threw giant rocks to reach other and the company flattened themselves against the wall. One rock hit the wall above Eva and some of the dwarves and started to fall, seemingly about to hit them. James instinctively threw out his arm and the rock suddenly cracked into several tiny pieces, falling past the others without harming them. 

Then, the wall that they were standing on cracked in two. It turned out that they were standing on the legs of one giant, Eva, Grace, Bilbo and some dwarves on one leg and Victoria, James and the other dwarves on the other. Everyone was panicking. Bofur quickly grabbed Eva's arm to steady her and Dwalin did the same for Grace. The giant that they were standing on collapsed and Eva's group crashed against a wall just a bit further from the other group

Thorin, James, Victoria and the others quickly rushed towards the place and sighed in relief at seeing them alright. Victoria peeked over the edge and saw Bilbo hanging on for dear life. With James's help, she quickly managed to get him back up, before they noticed that he was missing. Despite that, Thorin still spat on the hobbit,  saying that he was only a burden and didn't belong with them. 

The humans all gave him a look, insulted for the hobbit's sake. Thorin ignored them and simply went inside a cave. The humans shared a look, but followed him. They had no idea how to get in the goblin caves otherwise. They all went to lie down, but the humans stayed awake and pretended to be asleep. After a while, Bilbo got up and started to walk out. Bofur stopped him.

The humans listened to their conversation and their hearts broke, when they heard bilbo say that the dwarves didn't belong anywhere. Bofur quickly and sadly agreed with him. Bofur wished Bilbo all the luck, before suddenly noticing something. "What's that?" He asked at seeing Bilbo's sword glow blue. The humans shared a look as Thorin called for everyone to wake up. The floor fell away and they all dropped into the mountain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	12. Goblins, orcs and eagles (oh my)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

They fell several feet into a half open cage. They barely had any time to regain their sense of up or down, before they were jumped by goblins. Everyone tried to fight them off, but they were hopelessly overwhelmed. They were pulled forwards and the humans shared a look, knowing that this was an important moment for Bilbo and the history of Middle-Earth. They saw the hobbit disappear and silently wished him luck. They were "led" to a throne, where one of the ugliest creatures ever was sitting.

The Great Goblin started to sing an absolutely horrible song and Eva leaned towards her brother. "I prefer David Bowie." She muttered, before hissing at a goblin poking her. James smiled dryly. Fíli and Kíli took it upon themselves to protect Grace and Victoria. Once he was finally done with singing, the Great Goblin sat back down and wondered what dwarves and four humans were doing in his kingdom. At his order, the goblins began to search them. 

The women immediately crossed their arms at chest height, not trusting the goblins and their little fingers. James, Fíli and Kíli did their best to keep the goblins away from them. The goblins found some of the things that Nori had stolen from Rivendell. Eva hit the dwarf on the back of his head in response. The Great Goblin demanded to know what they were doing there, but got impatient when Bofur told an extremely long nonsense story. 

The monstrosity ordered for several torture devices to be brought forward. "Start with the youngest!" He shouted, looking at Grace. "Wait!" Thorin called, stepping forward and revealing himself. The Great Goblin talked about how Azog the Defiler was still alive, much to the dwarf's disbelief and denial. Gleeful, the Great Goblin started to sing another song, until one of the goblins found Ocrist and the monsters panicked. 

Grace hissed as one of the goblins stabbed her in the side. Other goblins brought Thorin down and prepared to kill him, until a bright light blew them all back. Gandalf had arrived. "Take up arms. Fight!" The wizard ordered. A hand grabbed Grace's and pulled her along. Grace looked up and stared right into the face of her soulmate. Aragorn squeezed her hand, before following Gandalf. 

What followed was a mad chase through Goblin town, cutting down goblins along the way. Grace's side hurt like it had never before, but she kept fighting. Aragorn kept her close to his side, regret filling him. He had left her and she had gotten into danger. He had failed her. They kept fighting, until the Great Goblin suddenly appeared in front of them. After being asked what he would do now, Gandalf simply poked him in the eye with his staff, before slashing his stomach with his sword. 

The goblin dropped to his knees. "That will do it." He muttered, before Gandalf cut his throat. The bridge that they were standing on broke and they fell several feet down once again. Aragorn held Grace tightly, her hiss of pain went unnoticed, but the feeling of blood on Aragorn's fingers didn't. They finally landed harshly on the ground. Grace groaned in pain, but quickly crawled off the bridge. 

"Out, out, out." She muttered, she and the other humans quickly climbing off the bridge. "Well, that could've been worse." Bofur muttered, not noticing the hasty escape of the humans. Just as he said it, the body of the Great Goblin fell on the bridge. The dwarves groaned at that. Kíli saw the goblins heading their way and they quickly ran again. As they ran past another small path, Victoria glanced at a big rock, knowing that Gollum was hiding behind it. 

They ran outside and finally paused for a breath. Grace leaned heavily against Aragorn, fighting her tears of pain. Aragorn looked at her side and saw her clothing stain red. "Gandalf!" He shouted in worry. The wizard immediately turned towards them and saw the blood. "Put her down on the ground. Quickly!" He ordered, just as another one of the dwarves named Oin ran up to them with herbs and bandages. 

Aragorn gently helped Grace lie down and stayed at her side as Oin bandaged the wound, tightly holding her hand. Grace flinched and squeezed his hand multiple times in pain. Aragorn gently hushed her. _"It is alright. I am here now. I am so sorry, my love."_ He whispered in elvish. Grace smiled at him, before wincing again. The other three humans sighed in relief at seeing him back with Grace.

Oin very carefully patted the bandaged wound. "There you go, lass. You were lucky that it wasn't a very deep wound. You must be very careful and let it rest a bit." He warned, before standing up and walking away. Grace winced again as she very slowly got up with Aragorn's help. "Not going to happen." She muttered. Aragorn looked at her in concern. Gandalf had taken this time to count the heads and found one missing. "Where's our hobbit?" He asked.

This resulted in a discussion about who saw him last. Thorin didn't take lightly to his disappearance. "He saw his chance and he took it. We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He's long gone." He said. There was silence for a few seconds, before it was broken by one of earth's most famous hobbits. "No, he isn't." Bilbo said, appearing from behind a tree. Several dwarves and Gandalf sighed in relief."Bilbo Baggins. I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life." Gandalf said.

Some of the dwarves wondered how he slipped past the goblins. The humans from earth and Gandalf noticed how he slipped a ring in his pocket. Gandalf tried to change the subject, but Thorin still wanted to know why he came back. The hobbit gave a very moving speech about how he missed his home and how the dwarves didn't have a home, but that he would try and help them take it back. Thorin was visibly touched by this. 

Aragorn looked at his soulmate and friends in concern, seeing how they had tensed up, Grace letting out a hiss of pain in the process. "What is it? What is happening?" He whispered. Grace looked at the mountain and saw a warg appear. "Orcs." She hissed, just as they heard the beasts howling. "Out of the frying pan." Thorin muttered. "And into the fire. Run." Gandalf continued, before starting to run.

Aragorn held his soulmate tightly and pulled her along, trying to make the run as painless as possible. The wargs quickly caught up and Aragorn took it upon himself to protect his soulmate. Seeing no other way out, Gandalf ordered them to climb into the trees. James went first and helped Grace and Eva climb into the branches. Bilbo had killed a warg with his sword and now, the blade that was soon to be known as Sting was stuck in its skull and the hobbit just couldn't get it out on his own.

Victoria ran to Bilbo, pulled the small sword out of the wolf, took the hobbit and threw him up towards Kíli, before climbing in herself. Once everyone was finally in ther trees, Aragorn climbed in and not a moment to soon as wargs and orcs descended on where they had been standing. It was then that Azog made his appearance. It was that the humans from earth had seen the movie, otherwise they would've had no idea what vile words came out of the orc's mouth. 

Thorin just stared at the orc in shock. At the orc's command the wargs attacked again. Grace desperately tried to hold on, while wincing in pain. Aragorn held onto her with one arm as the tree shook from the force. Grace braced herself, knowing that the next part was going to be painful for her with her wound. Because of the force of the wargs jumping against the trees, the trees started to fall down forcing the humans and dwarves to jump to another tree.

Grace hissed in pain, but refused to look weak in front of the orcs. This went on, until there was only one tree left standing. As the wargs attacked again, Eva looked around. "Where are those goddamn eagles?" She muttered, before looking up. "Gandalf! The pinecones!" She called. Gandalf quickly realised what she was trying to say and used his powers to lit the pinecones on fire, throwing it to the ferocious beasts.

He quickly lit some other pinecones on fire and gave them to the company, who used them to make other pinecones burn and threw them to the ground below. They cheered at seeing the wargs retreat a bit, but Grace clutched her soulmate and the tree tightly, knowing what was about to happen. Sure enough, the tree started to fall down as well, barely staying on the cliff.

"Grace!" Aragorn shouted, seeing her nearly slip and fall. He caught her, but she didn't manage to get back up on the branch, because of her injury. She just held on for dear life, hearing Ori and Dori in the same predicament. Aragorn held her hands, refusing to let her fall. "Hold on, my love. Do not dare to let go." He whispered. Seeing his company in danger, Thorin finally had more than enough.

He managed to get up and charge at Azog, only to be jumped by the white warg that the orc was riding on. Seeing him in danger, Bilbo got up as well and drew his sword. Thorin was thrown onto a rock and an orc was ordered to finish him off, but before it could, it was jumped by the brave hobbit. Bilbo pointed his sword at the orcs and wargs and slashed at any, who got too close. 

Seeing a warg approach the hobbit from behind, James got up as well and felt a strange feeling in his body. He instinctively threw his fist up and the earth shook. A Stalagmite suddenly shot out from the earth and stabbed the beast, throwing it and its rider off the cliff. James just looked at it with wide eyes. _'Did I just do that?'_ He thought in shock, before locking eyes with Azog.

Narrowing his own eyes, James threw out his arms again and the earth shot up again, separating the orcs from the hobbit and the unconscious dwarf. Before the orcs could recover, they were attacked by a pissed off group of dwarves and three humans. Grace didn't have time to be shocked as she felt herself slipping from the branch with every second, despite Aragorn doing his best to hold onto her with all his might.

"Please, my love. Hold on. I can not lose you." The ranger whispered desperately. Grace looked up at him, before noticing a moth in the corner of her eye and letting a small smile show, knowing what it meant. Unable to help herself, she opened her mouth. "Fly, you fool." She whispered, before slipping out of her soulmate's grasp and falling. "No!" Aragorn screamed, before seeing her land on an enormous eagle. 

Several other eagles descended, attacking the wargs, before picking up the company. Eva waited until an eagle had picked up Thorin, catching his oaken branch, before allowing herself to be picked up as well. Other eagles plucked Aragorn and the remaining dwarves and flew off with them to safety. Gandalf was the last one to leave, jumping from the tree and onto an eagle's back, just as the tree fell to the ground far below.

As if knowing how important their temporary riders were to each other, Aragorn's and Grace's eagles flew next to each other. They looked at each other and smiled. They had a lot to talk about, but not now. Now, they simply enjoyed the view over Middle-Earth as the eagles flew over forests and waterfalls. They landed on a big rock and the soulmates immediately embraced, while Gandalf quickly healed the unconscious Thorin 

Seeing the error of his ways, Thorin finally apologised to Bilbo and accepted him into the company, giving him an unexpected hug to the hobbit's surprise and the company's relief and cheers. The eagles flew off again and Bilbo suddenly noticed the lonely mountain in the distance. Gandalf explained that it really was Erebor and they enjoyed the view for a while. "I do believe the worst is behind us." Bilbo suddenly said, breaking her out of her thoughts. She snorted loudly at that. "Yeah, there's only a possible dragon at the end, but that's nothing compared to a few orcs." She said sarcastically. Bilbo had to concede at that.

There was silence for a few seconds. "Hey, guys. I can Earthbend. How awesome is that?" James suddenly asked excitedly and his friends from earth, who got the reference laughed at that, albeit very carefully in Grace's case. The first part of their journey was over and they had made it out alright. Now they just had to cross Mirkwood and defeat a dragon. Easy, right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next timel


	13. Bears and rest

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

They got down from the rock slowly, with Aragorn supporting Grace. Once they were down, Bilbo was sent to see where the orcs were, while Oin checked up on Grace's wound. "It looks alright lass. If we had more time, I would replace the bandages, but we don't have time, so try to stay strong." He advised. Grace simply nodded, leaning heavily on Aragorn. Bilbo came back down, looking panicked. 

He said that the orcs were close, but before he could say something else, the dwarves started to talk amongst each other. "Guys! Bilbo wants to say something." Victoria said, shutting them up. Bilbo told them that he had seen an enormous bear. Gandalf said that there was a house where they could take refuge. A loud roar sounded through the air and the company had to run again.

Knowing that she couldn't run anymore, Aragorn lifted his soulmate up in his arms and ran after the company, trying to keep himself as steady as possible. Close to the house, several of the company were surprised to see the fattest dwarf, Bombur, run past them easily in fear. The dwarves slammed against the closed door and tried to open it. Eva rolled her eyes. "Oh, for heaven's sake. Open the latch, you idiots." She said, James doing just that and the company ran inside.

A black bear tried to get into the door, but the company managed to keep him out and close the door. Gandalf told the company that the bear was their host, Beorn. Aragorn called Oin, having seen and felt Grace getting weaker. The dwarf quickly replaced the bandages and once again advised Grace to take rest. Grace nodded in answer, knowing that she could actually heed that advice for now. 

Aragorn held her in his arms, stroking her hair. "I'm sorry." He heard her whisper. He looked down at her, knowing what she meant. "So am I, my love. I should not have reacted in the way that I did. I hurt you deeply and I wil always regret that." He replied, kissing the top of her head, before resting his cheek on it. Grace carefully borrowed herself against his chest. "And I shouldn't have lied to you. We were both wrong." She said and he agreed.

"No more lies?" He asked. Grace smiled. "No more lies." She promised, resting her head against his shoulder. It would probably take a while, before they were as close as they once were, but she was patient. "So, how does my story end?" Aragorn asked teasingly after a few seconds, not really wanting to know his story. Grace smiled and softly chuckled. "Spoilers." She simply replied.

The others came by to check up on her during the next few hours, but mostly left them alone. By nightfall, everyone was asleep in the hay. The next morning, there was some discussion about what they should do. Gandalf decided that he, Bilbo and Victoria would go and greet their host and that the dwarves should wait for his signal as Beorn was not exactly very fond of dwarves.

"What signal would that be?" Bofur asked, but Gandalf was already gone. Victoria wasn't, however. "I'll hold up two fingers behind my back." She answered. The dwarves nodded at that and she left. From the window, hey saw the three talking to their host for a few minutes. Beorn suddenly looked extremely hostile and they knew that they had told him about the dwarves staying in his home. 

After a bit more talking, he looked slightly less hesitant, but still very wary. Victoria held up two fingers behind her back and slowly, the company walked out of the door in pairs. Thorin was the last one and Beorn reluctantly let them stay. A few minutes later, they were sitting at the giant table and Beorn was pouring them milk. He told slightly about his history with orcs, about how they had wiped out his people. 

"If you want to reach the mountain on Durin's Day, you're running out of time." He muttered. "Which is why we'll go through Mirkwood as soon as Grace is a bit better." Gandalf said, having argued with Thorin about it. He had said that Grace would slow them down if she was injured and Thorin had reluctantly agreed to wait a couple of days, but they would leave as soon as Grace felt better. 

"A darkness lies on that forest. Foul things creep in the branches. I would not go there, except in great need." Beorn advised. Grace shuddered a bit. She hated spiders. "We'll take the elven road. Their path is still safe." Gandalf replied. Beorn still wasn't sure. "The Woodelves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They are less wise and more dangerous." He said, before telling them that orcs were swarming the land. 

After a few minutes, he agreed to lend some of his ponies to them, as soon as they were ready to leave and the group spread out to get some much needed rest, especially in Grace's case. Aragorn was back at her side once again and both the humans and dwarves smiled at seeing them together. Something about Grace being alone just didn't feel right for them. Oin checked up on her regularly. 

James used this time to try and train his new powers. In a patch of forest, far enough away not to anger Beorn, but close enough to be safe, he trained. Slowly, he started to get his powers under control. He even pulled off his boots and felt things move in the trees and on the ground if he deeply concentrated. Eva teasingly called him "Toph", whenever he returned from training, but he didn't mind

A few days later, the wound had closed and was just a bruise and a scar now. Seeing that Grace was able to move around without wincing every other second, the company packed their things and got ready to leave in the morning. The next day, they got on the ponies that Beorn was lending them. Aragorn looked at Grace in concern, seeing her extreme reluctance to go to Mirkwood, despite being better. 

Seeing him look, Grace smiled bitterly. "I don't like spiders." Was all that she said. Aragorn frowned in confusion, but realised that that was all what she would say on the matter. Once Gandalf had climbed on his own pony, they were off. Grace knew that Beorn would secretly follow them, so the orcs would leave them alone. Sitting on a horse, jostled her bruise a bit, but she could handle it now.

Arriving at the entrance of the forest and getting off their ponies, Aragorn couldn't help, but step closer to Grace. The forest gave him a bad feeling. The rangers weren't allowed to come here by order of Mirkwood's king, so he had never been here before. Grace grabbed his hand and squeezed it, having the same feeling. Even Bilbo felt the same, asking if there wasn't another way around it, but Gandalf said that it would take too long.

After a few minutes of looking around the entrance, the grey wizard suddenly walked back to them and got back on his pony, saying that he had to leave urgently. "You must be joking." Aragorn muttered in disbelief. They were entering possibly one of the most dangerous places in Middle-Earth and the wizard leaves them to their fate? Grace simply hummed, knowing that Gandalf had a good reason for it. 

They watched the wizard ride away with haste after giving them one last warning to stay on the path, before turning around and starting to enter the forest. Grace swallowed audibly, before slowly walking in. Aragorn squeezed her hand to remind her that he was there. While Grace was less than enthusiastic about entering Mirkwood, one of her friends felt some sort of excitement. She didn't know why, but she felt that she had to be here. The company soon disappeared between the trees. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Mirkwood. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	14. Mirkwood

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

In the beginning, nothing was wrong. They travelled under roots and past ridges. Up and down they went. After a while, however, the air seemed to disappear. "Air. I need air." Bofur muttered. After another while, they found a bridge that Gandalf had talked about, but it was broken into pieces and since Gandalf had told them that the water was enchanted, swimming wasn't an option.

Kíli found a couple of vines over the water and they send Bilbo over first, although Victoria wasn't happy with it and neither was the hobbit. They watched as Bilbo made some acrobatic movements to get across the vines, before following him, although he tried to warn them to stay right there, but he was too late. Aragorn and James helped the women across, Aragorn watching Grace like a hawk. 

They made it across easily enough, which could not be said of the dwarves as they clumsily tried to make their own way across. Bilbo slapped himself in the face several times. Thorin was the first dwarf to make it across and he nodded at the humans, impressed that they had made it. They saw a beautiful, white elk appear between the trees, but before they could do anything, Thorin shot an arrow at it. 

It missed and the elk fled. "You shouldn't have done that. It's bad luck." Bilbo muttered. Thorin replied that he didn't believe in luck, just as Bombur fel into the water, asleep. "You were saying?" Eva said sarcastically, as the men went to help get the sleeping dwarf on shore. Once they were all on shore, they made a stretcher and put Bombur on it. Four dwarves, including Dwalin and Bofur carried it, although the humans had offered to carry it as well 

"We need to take a rest." Dori said after a while and those who could sat down, breathing heavily and feeling sick. Grace leaned on Aragorn heavily as her lungs tried to take in oxygen that apparently wasn't there. She closed her eyes as she heard Bilbo talk about hearing voices, knowing where they came from. She looked up and saw web covering some roots. Her grip on her soulmate tightened

Suddenly, Thorin seemed to know the way out and walked off, the company following him. They kept walking, the dwarves and humans carrying over the stretcher. Soon enough, they were hopelessly lost. The company walked around, trying to find the path again. "It can't just be gone." Dori muttered. "Unless someone's moved it." Dwalin replied. Eva leaned on her brother, feeling dizzy and sick. They still kept walking.

Victoria looked down at her feet and it looked like she was walking backwards. Looking around, she saw herself following her. She shook her head and saw that it was actually Kíli. Suddenly, Bofur found a tobacco pouch on the ground. "It's exactly the same as mine." He muttered. "That's because it is yours. Don't you see? We're walking around in circles." Bilbo said irritated. The company started to fight about who had gotten them lost, not noticing Bilbo climbing up the trees.

"Enough! Quiet! All of you!" Thorin suddenly shouted. The dwarves calmed down. "We're being watched." Thorin continued. Grace had been separated from Aragorn in the scuffle and was standing at the edge of the company. She saw Aragorn look at her, before his eyes saw something above her and they widened in fear, just before she felt something sharp stab in her back. The last thing that she remembered was her soulmate shouting her name, before everything went black.

\------------------

"Grace! Grace!" Aragorn's voice pulled the woman out of her unconscious state, just as the ranger cut through the webbing, relieved to see her alright. He pulled her up and kissed her forehead, before pulling her with him. It took a few seconds, before she fully realised what was going on. Spiders descended all around them and Aragorn started to fight them off. Grace just looked on in fear, before seeing a spider creep up on her soulmate from behind. 

Now really angry, she put herself over her fear, grabbed her sword and jumped on the spider's back, running it completely through. They kept fighting, until the spiders seemed to be gone. They started to run again. "We're clear!" Thorin shouted, before another spider landed in front of them. Thorin got ready to fight, but suddenly noticed something in the trees. A white blond haired elf jumped from the trees and killed the spider, before aiming his arrow at the company. 

Looking around, the company saw that they were surrounded by elves. "Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure." The blond elf said. The humans from earth recognised him as none other than Legolas, another member of the future fellowship. Grace turned to her friends as they surrendered. "This will be weird." She whispered and the others agreed, before they heard someone scream

"Kíli!" Fíli shouted, recognising his brother's voice. A bit further from the company, Kíli was in a tough spot as he was attacked by a spider. A red-haired elleth suddenly appeared from the trees, killing spiders along the way. "Throw me a dagger! Quick!" Kíli shouted, seeing another spider coming his way. "If you think that I'm giving you a weapon, dwarf. You're mistaken!" The elf said venomously.

Kíli stared in shock at hearing those words, even as the elleth threw a dagger to kill the approaching spider. His soulmate was an elf?! Oh, his uncle was going to kill him. The elleth brought him back to the company and they were thoroughly searched. Legolas found two pictures in Gloin's pocket. "Who is this? Your brother?" He asked snobbishly, ignoring the dwarf's protests. "That is my wife!" Gloin spat.

Legolas simply went to the other picture. "What is this horrid creature? A goblin mutant?" He asked. "That's my wee lad, Gimli." Gloin replied. Aragorn heard a snort from beside him and turned to see the humans from earth desperately trying not to laugh. Grace caught his eye and winked, mouthing "spoilers" and he nodded in understanding. It was then that Legolas turned and walked towards them. 

"I thought that my father had forbidden rangers from coming here." He said with a raised eyebrow. Aragorn raised his head. "Your father forbade us from helping to keep your lands clear, your highness, but he didn't forbid us from simply passing through." He replied, keeping a tight hold on Grace. The woman in question shared a look with her friends. It was so weird to see Aragorn and Legolas meeting each other of the first time

Legolas frowned. "I didn't think that a ranger would sink so low as to escort dwarves and why are you holding that woman so tightly?" He asked, looking at Grace. Eva rolled her eyes at his haughty tone. She really didn't like how he was in the hobbit movies. He was all high and mighty to the dwarves. She couldn't even remember one time that he smiled or joked, unlike in the LOTR movies. "She got injured a few days ago, you pointy-eared princess." She said irritated

Elves, dwarves and humans stopped everything and looked at her. The elves couldn't believe that she spoke to the prince like that. The dwarves were proud of her and the humans were somewhere in between. Legolas glared at her. "Maybe, you should learn not to speak against your betters." He said lowly. The jaws of Grace, James and Victoria fell, but Eva simply raised an eyebrow, not realising what he had said.

"Maybe, once you learn that humans and dwarves are beings on this earth just like you are, I will." She replied. There was something strange in the prince's eyes, before he turned around and walked away. Eva looked at her friends, only to see them staring at her with open mouth. "What?" She asked. Closing his mouth, James hesitantly spoke up. "Uh, eva. What did he say to you?" He asked and Eva frowned.

"You heard him. "Maybe you should learn not to speak against your betters."" She replied, imitating his voice. James nodded at that. "And what do the words on your arm say?" He asked again. Eva opened her mouth to answer, before the penny finally dropped and her eyes widened. Legolas was her soulmate. She had just called her soulmate a "pointy-eared princess." "Well, shit." She muttered, before they were led through the forest.

She saw Legolas glance at her sometimes during the walk, but ignored him for now. She noticed Kíli looking shocked and went to walk next to him. "You too, huh?" She whispered. Kíli looked up at her in surprise and confusion. She glanced at Legolas in answer. His eyes widened and he patted her arm in sympathy. They arrived at the palace and were led inside. The humans knew that this would either go really well or really bad.


	15. Kings and talking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly filler

Disclaimer: I sent own anything that you recognise.

They were led through the halls to another throne on which the elvenking was seated. Thranduil looked down at them from his literal high chair. "So much for the hospitality from the lord of the elves. Is this how you treat travellers to your lands?" Dwalin spat, showing his bound hands. Thranduil simply raised an eyebrow. "Only the ones that annoy me." He replied coldly, just as Legolas walked forwards. 

They talked softly for a few minutes, before Thranduil looked at the group of humans or more specifically: Eva. The woman swallowed as two cold, blue eyes looked at her. She felt like they pierced right through her. She did look back at him, showing no fear. After a few seconds of staring, Thranduil finally turned towards Thorin and Eva took a deep breath, having no idea what just happened. 

To their surprise, the humans were allowed to have guest rooms in the palace, while the dwarves were sent to the dungeons. Only Eva had to stay in the throne room. Her friends and even Legolas gave her a slightly concerned look as they walked out of the room. Eva swallowed again, before looking back up at the king, who was slowly walking down the stairs that led to his throne. 

"So, you are my son's soulmate? You are the reason that he had an insult on his arm for his entire life?" He asked. Eva still had to look up as he was at least a head taller than her. Eva bit her lip. "Yes, sorry about that." She said awkwardly. She had her line, but Legolas had "she got injured a few days ago, you pointy-eared princess" on his arm or wherever his soulmark was.

Even she had to admit that that was worse. Thranduil looked down at her, clearly not liking what he saw. "A human as my son's soulmate. The Valar are clearly laughing at me." He muttered out loud. Eva looked down, knowing that he wouldn't believe her if she said that she should live as long as an elf and even then, she was still a human, albeit a human with an incredibly long lifespan.

A miracle or a sign would probably have to happen, before Thranduil accepted her as his son's soulmate. Little did she know that a sign was about to show itself. Thranduil was about to turn away, when he noticed something on her hand. Looking down, Eva saw a strange, blue mark glowing on her hand. "The touch of the Valar." Thranduil whispered, for once looking anything else, but snobby. Eva guessed that it was important.

The mark disappeared and Thranduil let her be escorted to her new rooms, needing to think. Arriving at the rooms, Eva saw her friends looking at their hands too, except for Aragorn. "You all got a mark too?" She asked. They all nodded. "King Thranduil called it "the touch of the Valar," whatever that means." She continued. James looked up. "They were all in different colours too. Mine was yellow, Victoria's was red and Grace's was white." He said.

Eva thought for a minute. "My mark was blue, but what could it possibly mean?" She wondered out loud. The others were thinking too, until Grace hummed softly. "I don't know, but we'll probably find out soon enough." She said, before turning to her friend with a smirk. "So, you finally found your soulmate too, eh?" She asked with a grin, resting her head on her hands. Eva scoffed loudly at that

"Yes and the first thing that I said to him was an insult. Great freaking start." She said sarcastically. Victoria patted her back in sympathy. "So, is it a coincidence that you and James have elves as your soulmates?" She suddenly asked and the siblings glanced at each other, not having thought about that, but Victoria had a point. It was a bit funny, but also depressing to think that one day, they would have to say goodbye to their friends. 

"Now, you're the only one left, Victoria." Eva said, changing the subject. The woman in question sighed. "Yes, but I think that it is going to take a while." She said. The others looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" James asked. Victoria shrugged. Knowing that Aragorn knew the truth meant that she could be a bit more open with the information, although she knew that she couldn't be too specific about future events. 

"We met nearly everyone important in The Hobbit. The only one left is Bard and he already has children and everything. And I swear, if my soulmate turns out to be that bastard Alfrid, I will run him through myself." She said. Eva shook her head. "There is no way in this world that that guy is your soulmate. Your soulmark says that he worries about you and when was Alfrid concerned about anyone, but himself?" She asked and Victoria smiled. 

"Who is this Alfrid?" Aragorn asked and Grace lifted her upper lip in disgust. "He is one of the most slimy and disgusting men that you will ever meet. Like Eva said, he only cares about himself and thinks that he is the most handsome and important person in the world. I would not be surprised if he tries to flirt with all three of us." She said, pointing at herself and the two other women in the room.

Aragorn frowned and his grip on Grace tightened unconsciously. She simply smiled and rested her head on her shoulder, reminding him that he was the one, who had her heart. Victoria sighed again. "I honestly think that I am going to have to wait for the next big event." She said. James frowned, knowing what she meant. "But that's not for another sixty years." He replied, the others nodding in agreement. Victoria smiled dryly.

"Lady Galadriel did say that the best things take a long time to prepare and if I really have to wait that long, then so be it." She said and the others looked down at this. If that really was the case, then it really was not fair for her. She would have to wait six decades for something that they already had. They hoped that the saying "time flies" would ring true here, otherwise she was screwed. 

Looking around, Aragorn changed the subject. "Why was it weird to see prince Legolas in the forest? I saw you share a look, when we were talking." He commented. Sharing another look, Grace said one word. "Spoilers." Aragorn gave her a mock scowl. "I am going to hear that word a lot, aren't I?" He asked and Grace nodded cheerfully. He sighed at that, before kissing her on the top of her head. Glancing at the nice room, James spoke up.

"It was surprisingly nice of the king to let us have these rooms." He said and his sister hummed. "Maybe, but we're still virtually prisoners. We just are not in a cell as the dwarves are." She said. Victoria nodded in agreement. "So, how are we going to get them out?" She whispered, just as there was a knock on the door. Eva quickly got up and opened it. At first, she saw nothing, until she looked down and smiled. "Bilbo." She said happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	16. Hobbits and elves

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Eva quickly let the hobbit in. "Bilbo. Where did you come from? How did you get in?" Grace asked, pretending that she didn't know how he had gotten in. Bilbo hesitantly showed them the ring and the humans instantly felt a presence in their head, tempting them to take it. "Alright, Bilbo. Put it back, before someone sees it." Victoria said and the hobbit quickly obeyed. "How are we going to get our friends out?" He asked. 

Eva thought for a minute. "I heard that there will be a big feast soon. The guards will probably either be distracted or drunk. You can try to get them out then." She advised in a very soft tone. The hobbit nodded, keeping that in his mind. They looked up at hearing a knock on the door. "Bilbo, hide." Eva hissed. Bilbo quickly put the ring back on and disappeared. Eva opened the door and saw a slightly awkward Legolas standing there. 

The elf prince invited her for a walk and she accepted after a soft push from her brother and friends. After they left, Bilbo reappeared again and said that he was going to try and find a way to get the dwarves out during the feast, before he left as well. Aragorn rubbed his head. "What is that ring? I heard a voice in my head." He said. Grace winced and rubbed her temple. "It gives me a bad feeling." She muttered, not telling him that she knew exactly what it was. 

She wrapped an arm around her soulmate as she saw that he was still a bit stressed and rested her head on his shoulder. _"I'll come back, when you call me. No need to say goodbye."_ She sang softly. It had been a song from their world and Aragorn had loved it as it calmed him down, whenever he was anxious. Aragorn smiled and hugged her tightly to his side. Grace slowly carded her fingers through his hair, calming him down even more. The evil voice quickly disappeared from his mind. 

Victoria walked over to James. "I know that we are probably supposed to let most things happen as they do in our world, but couldn't we at least try and destroy it, now that a certain eye isn't back at full powers yet?" She asked very softly and James sighed. "It would corrupt us, before we even reached Mordor. Frodo barely made it and he was resilient to the ring's darkness." He replied just as softly. 

"As much as I hate to admit it, lady Galadriel is right: our hearts are easily corruptible. We might start the quest with good intentions, but so did Frodo. We know the danger, but he did too." He continued and Victoria sighed, realising that he had a point. "I hate this. We know what it will do to Bilbo and we can't do anything to stop it." She muttered and James rubbed her back, not liking this either.

Grace looked at her friends, having the same feeling about the situation as they did. Nothing was as frustrating as knowing about something bad that will happen and being unable to do anything to stop it and having to let the events play out. All they could do was lessen the consequences, once they were at that point. For now, they could try to keep Bilbo from using it as much as they could.

Victoria had told the dwarves about Bilbo going insane, but they thought that it was a funny story that didn't happen and technically, it hadn't happened yet, but it would. Grace looked down and burrowed herself against Aragorn's side. This situation was all kinds of messed up and she and her friends were in the middle of it. She just hoped that Aragorn wouldn't be too angry when he found out that she had once again known all along

\-------------------

Legolas and Eva walked beside each other awkwardly. "I am sorry that you had an insult as your mark." Eva finally spoke up. Legolas let a small smile show. "Well, you cannot say that it is not unique. If I had a coin for every time an elleth said to me: "it is nice to meet you, your highness," I would be rich." He commented. Eva giggled at that and Legolas felt his smile grow at that, finding himself to like the sound. 

They walked through the gardens and Eva was honestly surprised. "A garden in a forest. Now, I have seen everything." She said and Legolas chuckled dryly. "These were my mother's gardens." He said and Eva immediately was ashamed. "Please forgive me. I did not know." She said, looking down. Legolas smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "It is alright. No offence taken." He said. 

Eva sighed in relief, before Legolas showed her around the beautiful gardens. From a balcony, Thranduil was watching them walk and talk, a goblet of wine in his hands. He had no idea what to think of this situation and he did not like it. His son's soulmate was a human, but she was a chosen of The Valar. A hundred years was a mere blink in the life of an elf, but did this mean that she would live as long as his son? 

He would have to wait and see. Until then, he would keep a close eye on the human woman. He walked to his desk and started writing. He recognised some of their clothing as Rivendell material. Perhaps lord Elrond could shine some light on this peculiar situation or at least explain why humans were living with him. He had heard about the heir of Isildur, but the other four were a mystery.

The two soulmates had no idea of the king's troubles as they talked with each other, slowly becoming more comfortable with each other, although they kept their guards up slightly. Eva wouldn't tell him about the quest, no matter how subtly he asked about it. Giving up for now, he invited her and her friends to the feast of starlight. She accepted with a small smile, already knowing that she would have to watch what she would drink. 

Walking back in, they came across Tauriel. The red-haired elleth smirked at seeing Eva next to her friend. _"Finally found her, have you?"_ She asked in elvish. Eva pretended to not understand what they were saying. Legolas said that at least he had found his soulmate. Eva pretended to look at her mark. "You know, my friend Kíli, who is one of the dwarves, also had a strange soulmark." She commented.

Both elves looked at her. "What does his mark say?" Legolas asked. Eva shrugged casually. "If you think that I'm giving you a weapon, dwarf, you're mistaken." She said and she could see Tauriel widen her eyes as she realised that those were her words. She quickly said goodbye and walked away. Legolas turned to Eva. "What was that about?" He asked and Eva shrugged innocently. Legolas brought her back to her room, kissed her hand and left.

Eva walked into the room and took a deep breath. Her friends, who had been waiting for her, all looked at her with expectant and curious looks. Eva smiled softly. "He is charming. I will give him that." She said with a small smile. The other four occupants all laughed at that, glad that things were a little less awkward for them. While her friends and soulmate were talking, Grace walked towards the balcony.

From there, she could see the Lonely Mountain and swallowed. Smaug had been intimidating on the cinema screen and she couldn't imagine how scary it was going to be to actually face him, knowing that he could actually burn you alive. She took a deep breath and walked back inside. Now was not the time to think about that. They first had to get the dwarves out, before focusing on the beast in the mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time


	17. A royal ball.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise

A few days later, it was time for the feast of starlight. The men got new robes for the evening and the women got dresses. Grace's dress was light blue with open sleeves with her hair loose for once. Victoria's was green with off-the-shoulder, see-through sleeves and a belt, her hair in a waterfall braid. Eva's was a dark blue with the upper sleeves looking like the stars in the night sky. Her hair was half up, half-down. Grace whistled, very impressed.

"I think that Legolas is going to look gobsmacked when he sees you." She said. Eva blushed a bit. "And Aragorn wil faint when he sees you." She replied. Victoria smiled at her friends, trying to ignore the pang of jealousy inside of her. She would find her own soulmate, one day, she just had to be very patient. She jumped slightly as Eva and Grace both hugged her from the side, realising what they had said. At the start of the ball, Legolas, James and Aragorn came back to escort the women to the right room.

Grace and Eva had been right: their respective soulmates were completely gobsmacked at seeing them. James shared a look with Victoria and rolled his eyes, making her smile. He walked towards her and extended his arm. Both their soulmates weren't there, so they might as well go together as friends. Legolas and Eva went first as the prince should enter the room first (and he knew the right way.)

There were some mutters and whispers from the other elves when they entered, but they ignored them. Thranduil looked at them, his expression blank and neutral. He had gotten a reply back from lord Elrond, telling him that the humans were very special, but refusing to say anything else. He only added that his son would be able to live with his soulmate at his side and Thranduil felt a bit relieved at that. It seemed that the Valar were merciful.

The humans and elf sat down at the head table and dinner was served. In the beginning, it was quite boring to be honest. Eva heard several elves rumour about her and her friends in elvish. Several wondered what a group of mortals was doing sitting next to the royal family. She also heard several jealous harpies whisper about how she didn't deserve sit next to Legolas and how they would be a better match. She almost rolled her eyes. 

Victoria leaned closer to James. "I miss our friends." She whispered. At least the dwarves and Bilbo knew how to make dinner a lot of fun. James nodded in agreement. "Me too." He replied. Eva carefully took a sip of her wine and almost spat it back out. Holy shit, that wine was strong! No wonder Legolas easily defeated Gimli in that drinking contest. _'Note to self: make sure that they do that drinking game.'_ She thought

After dinner, it was time for Legolas to officially open the feast with a dance. Several female elves looked at him with hopeful looks, which quickly turned into disappointment and jealousy as he invited Eva. The humans simply smiled and watched them as the music began and the two began to dance. "Thank the Valar that we were thought how to ballroom dance, otherwise Eva would have been doomed." James muttered and his friends laughed. 

Thranduil glanced at them. He had seen them be very polite and know table manners. So, they had learned proper etiquette. That was good. He looked back at his son and let a barely noticeable smile show at seeing him happily dancing with his soulmate. His son could use some light and happiness in his life after his mother passed away. He just hoped that lord Elrond was right about the humans. 

On the dancefloor, Eva felt more relaxed than she had in a while. She had always heard that dancing with your soulmate felt like dancing on clouds, but she had always thought that was ridiculous. Well, she stood corrected, although it still was a bit ridiculous. She only knew him for a few days, but she felt very relaxed in his arms. An instinct inside of her was telling her that he would protect her and keep her safe

Legolas looked down at her, his eyes warm. She was one of the strongest people that he had met and she was human. He had talked with her several over the past days and he had learned that while she was usually nice and polite, insult someone that she cared about and she would fight back, uncaring about who she was talking to. The mark in his arm was proof of that. He honestly couldn't wait to get to know her better. They kept dancing, until the song ended and they bowed/curtsied to each other. After that, the feast truly began. Elves partied and laughed and cheered loudly.

The group of humans mostly stayed out of their way, although Eva and Grace went dancing with their soulmates several times. When Victoria and Eva went to get some extra food. They heard some female elves whisper amongst each together, while giving Eva very dirty looks. _"It is not fair. Why does she get the first dance with Legolas? She is not even pretty."_ One elleth said enviously, giving a unsubtle glare at the human woman. The other elves agreed with her, making disparaging comments about pretty much everything of Eva's appearance, from her hair to her dress.

Getting an idea, Victoria turned to her friend. _"What do you think of the grand feast?"_ She asked in elvish and the female elves stiffened at realising that Victoria could speak their language. They looked at Eva in the hopes that she couldn't, but luck was not on their side today. _"I think that it is magnificent. It is a shame that some let their own feelings get in the way of enjoying it."_ Eva replied and the group of elves paled at realising that she had understood everything that they had been saying.

With smirks on their faces, the two human women walked back to their table, sharing a high-five between them during the walk back. The others raised their eyebrows at seeing their smirks, but knew them well enough not to ask. The feast continued for many hours, although the humans politely retired after a while. They had decided that they would stay behind in Mirkwood to try and make time for Bilbo and the dwarves to escape.

However, unbeknownst to Eva and James, Victoria, Grace and Aragorn were going with the dwarves, knowing that they would need the help. They didn't tell the siblings about it, so that they could remain as innocent as they could. So, they changed in their new travel clothing and went to lie in the bed with them, but they did not fall asleep. In the morning, there was an almost inaudible knock on the door and they got up and snuck out of their rooms, led by Bilbo.

The dwarves were relieved to see them, but worried about the other two humans. "They will be fine as long as we're quick." Victoria hissed, opening some of the cell doors. The group quickly followed Bilbo to the cellars and after some hesitation, got into the open barrels that were there. Luckily for the humans, there were some bigger barrels."What do we do now?" Bofur asked, the entire company sticking their heads out of the barrels.

"Hold your breath." Bilbo answered, before starting to push a lever. "Hold on." Grace said as the floor underneath them began to tilt and the barrels began to roll. They had a freefall for a few seconds, before hitting the cold water. Bilbo fell into the water as well after a few seconds and the company started to paddle their way out. The humans looked up at the cellar exit, hoping that their friends would forgive them for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.
> 
> https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/454019206175337105/ Grace's dress. 
> 
> https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/ATboQj4JWwyUu4eXPdERUwUrL6t3OINn-GpdHuk-bAnFTynXFnCQ6wc/ Victoria's dress
> 
> https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/529173024941395563/ Eva's dress


	18. A group split up

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Victoria quickly grabbed Bilbo and made him hold on to her barrel. The water sped up and Thorin saw that they were heading towards a small waterfall. "Hold on!" He screamed and they went down. They were underwater for a few seconds, before resurfacing. "Grace!" Aragorn shouted, not immediately seeing her. "I'm here! I'm here!" He heard her voice from behind. He turned around and sighed in relief at seeing her. 

They heard a horn blow, just as a gate appeared. The elves guarding it quickly closed the gate, which resulted in them being stuck. Pretending to notice something, Victoria shouted a word. "Orcs!" Immediately, the elves were distracted with fighting the orcs, but were quickly overwhelmed. Orcs jumped on the company, who did their best to fight them off with what they had. Only Bilbo had his sword as the humans had snuck out without their weapons.

Kíli climbed out of his barrel and started to run to the lever that would open the gate. Grace kept a close eye on him, knowing what was bound to happen. Soon enough, a poisoned arrow flew at the dwarven prince. Grace threw out her arm, shouting a warning. A wind picked up and blew the arrow off course, narrowly missing Kíli. Realising the danger, Kíli went even faster and pulled the lever, before jumping into his barrel.

The gates opened and the barrels went on, just as Tauriel, Legolas and other elves came to fight. The orcs followed them down the rapid river. Some of the dwarves had managers to steal axes and swords from other orcs and were fighting them off. ' _Dangerous version of Six flags.'_ Victoria thought dryly, ducking into her barrel to avoid getting shot. Legolas jumped on the heads of Dwalin and Thorin, much to their disgust and anger.

Aragorn stared at the elf prince as he surfed on the heads of the dwarves, shooting orcs as he went. He even balanced on one of them like it was nothing. He shared a look with Grace and she simply smiled, before punching an orc in the face just as it tried to jump on her barrel. He smiled proudly, before fighting off another orc. Legolas jumped back on shore after a while as the river sped up even more.

Legolas watched the mixed group of dwarves, humans and one hobbit go, just as Tauriel caught an orc and went to kill it. He ordered her to keep that one alive for interrogation, before looking at the disappearing group. How in the name of the Valar was he going to explain this to Eva. _"If she didn't know about this already.'_ A nasty voice in his mind said, no matter how hard he tried to shake it away. After a few seconds of questioning, they could see that Eva and James had no idea that their friends had left.

The shock couldn't be acted even by the best liar. Thranduil didn't fully trust it, seeing that they were more shocked about the humans leaving than the dwarves escaping. Although, Eva had spent a lot of time with his son and he had several servants confirm that James spent almost every day in the library, once he had finally found it. The other three humans had been rarely seen, except for the feast. It was plausible that they had planned the escape along with the small hobbit that his son had seen.

He would have to keep an eye on them, but for now, he had other things to worry about. He looked at the orc that his son had in a tight grip, a dagger to its throat. Eva, James and Tauriel were standing at the sidelines. "Such is the nature of evil. Out there in the vast ignorance of the world, it festers and spreads. A shadow that grows in the dark. A sleepless malice as black as the upcoming wall of night. So it ever was, so will it always be. In time, all foul things come forth." Thranduil said slowly, circling around the orc. 

Eva had to admit, he knew how to be intimidating. It was just a shame that the orc didn't listen "The black-haired archer. We almost got him with a Morgul shaft if it hadn't been for a stupid wind blowing." It growled. Eva frowned at that, a thought trickling in her mind and refusing to let go. Tauriel lost her temper and was sent out of the room. The orc started to deliver its final threat. "My master serves the one." It said and Eva could see the king's eyes widen slightly as he realised who he was talking about.

"Do you understand now, elfling? Death is upon you. The flames of war are upon you all!" The orc said, before starting to laugh. Quick as lightning, Thranduil unsheated his sword and cut the orc's head off. Legolas didn't agree with it, but what's done is done. Thranduil ordered the gates of the kingdom to be closed and Eva and James were led to their rooms. Once there, James turned to his sister. "You've got your thinking face on again." He said, Eva knowing what it meant.

The woman smiled. "I was just thinking about something: you can control the earth and we know that that arrow should've hit Kíli, if not for "a stupid wind" as the orc called it." She said, looking at her brother. "What if the power that the Valar has granted us is control over the elements? What if one of our friends can control the air?" She asked. James looked at her. It seemed incredibly far-fetched and yet...

There was a knock on the door and Legolas walked in, carrying their weapons. "Tauriel has left. I am going after her. Are you coming with me?" He asked, holding out the weapons. Eva smiled and grabbed her daggers. "Give us five minutes." She said, before she and James went to change into travel clothing. Once they were done, they followed Legolas out of the kingdom. They would have a long talk with their friends, once everything was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time


	19. Laketown

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The river started to calm down and the bigger part of the company started to paddle to the shore. They had lost the orcs for now, but they knew that the ferocious creatures would catch up to them soon. "It's everyone okay? No one's hurt?" Victoria asked, looking around her friends, especially Kíli. Everyone replied that they were fine, except for being wet. Bilbo suggested going onwards, but there was one problem with that. 

A giant lake was between them and The Lonely Mountain and going around it would take far too long. Kíli sat down and pulled off his boot to get the water out of it. Behind him, a man was aiming an arrow at him. Dwalin quickly came to his defence, but the man fired his arrow into the branch that the dwarf was holding, before nocking another arrow and shooting the rock that Kíli was about to throw. 

"Do it again and you're dead." The man threatened. Aragorn had put Grace behind him, the minute that he had seen the man, grabbing Victoria's arm as well. Luckily, Balin managed to diffuse the tension by asking if the man's boat was for hire. The man didn't answer and started loading the now empty barrels onto the boat. Balin kept talking to him and it became awkward when the subject turned to the man's family.

It turned out that the man's wife and soulmate had died a few years ago, leaving him behind with two daughters and one son. Aragorn held Grace tightly against him at that. He wouldn't know what he would do if he ever lost his beloved _Eruanna_. Grace simply kissed his temple in an attempt to comfort him. Balin finally convinced the man, Bard, to take them across the lake by promising to pay him. 

They got onto the boat and sailed away. After a while, it started to get foggy and cold. Grace and Aragorn huddled together and seeing Victoria tremble slightly despite the blanket that bard had given her and Grace, Fíli and Kíli sat on either side of her. Dwarves had a higher temperature than humans, so she felt warmer quickly, even though she couldn't stop herself from sending a small, envious look towards the two soulmates. 

The two dwarven brothers shared a look between them. If they were right, then Victoria was the only one of the humans, who hadn't met her soulmate yet. It must be awkward and lonely for her. They silently agreed to look after her, until she had found hers. Victoria smiled at them in gratitude. Dwalin and Thorin were muttering about how they couldn't trust the fisherman. "His name is Bard." Bilbo muttered. 

"How do you know this?" Dwalin muttered. "Un, me, Grace, Estel and Victoria asked him." The hobbit answered cheekily. The humans smiled at that. Balin was counting the money, finding out that they were a few coins short. Thorin crossed his arms. "Gloin, give up your money." He said. Gloin started to protest that he didn't have any money left, when Grace looked up and gasped. The dwarves followed her eyesight and stared.

Out of the mist appeared the Lonely Mountain. Goin quickly gave up the money that he had. Soon after, Bard forced the dwarves and hobbit back into the barrels, the humans were allowed to stay out of them. After much grumbling, they did so. Bard and made a deal with someone. "Guys, may I give you a piece of advice?" Victoria asked in a soft tone. The dwarves all grumbled in the affirmative.

"Hold your breath." Victoria continued, before dozens of fish were thrown into the barrels and onto the poor dwarves and hobbit. Grace did her best not to laugh, but snorts still escaped her mouth. That was, until Victoria grabbed a fish and hit her with it. This resulted in a "fish fight" between the two women, while the two men shared a look and rolled their eyes. At Bard's warning, they stopped and got serious.

Arriving at the gate, they met the one person that Grace and Victoria had not been looking forward to meet: Alfrid. The slimy man immediately gave them a look that he probably considered seductive, but gave them the creeps. "Well, what do we have here?" He leered and Victoria wished that she was in ther barrels with the dwarves. Aragorn glared at the man. He was indeed slimy and disgusting. 

Alfrid stepped closer to Grace. "What are two beautiful women doing here all alone?" He asked, getting right in her face. Victoria grabbed Aragorn's wrist to stop him for doing something stupid. Instead, the ranger cleared his throat. "They are not alone." He said lowly, wrapping his arm around Grace and silently ordering the man to step away from her with his eyes. Alfrid took a step back and asked again what they were doing there. 

"That is none of your business." Aragorn said calmly. Alfrid simply smirked. "Wrong. It is the master's business, which makes it my business." He said, before he saw Bard, Aragorn and Grace press their lips together to prevent laughing. While he had been talking, Victoria had walked around him and started to imitate his posture and way of moving. Alfrid turned around and Victoria quickly looked the other way, whistling innocently. 

"I could overlook this for a certain price, if you understand what I mean." He said, now turning his "advances" to Victoria as Grace was clearly taken. Getting an idea, Aragorn quickly spoke up. "I do not think that king Thranduil would like it if you tried to seduce his son's soulmate." He said, ignoring the looks that the women gave him. Bard saw the looks and frowned. Alfrid stepped back at that, not wanting to anger the elvenking.

Instead, he ordered that the fishes would be thrown overboard. "Alright, but it will be your funeral when the hungry people find out that you threw away fresh fish." Grace said casually. Alfrid growled as he was foiled yet again. "Fine keep the fish, but we will know when you did something wrong Bard. We know where you live." He tried to threaten as they were finally allowed to go on. 

"It is a small town, Alfrid. Everyone knows where everyone lives." Bard replied. Grace smirked at that. Once they were out of sight, the dwarves were allowed to come out of the barrels. They were very grumpy, but they were in the town and that was what mattered. They were spotted by some guards, but the dwarves quickly took care of them and the people of Laketown helped hide both the dwarves and the unconscious men, when the commander came to look. 

Bard's son, Bain, came running towards them, warning that their house was being watched. Grace and Victoria shared a look and almost smirked, knowing what the dwarves would have to do to get in. A few minutes later, the humans followed Bard to his front door. Bard called down to the so-called "subtle" spies that he was done for the day. Inside, they met his daughters Tilda and Sigrid. The two women smiled sadly at seeing the two girls hugging their father.

Even though they were living in a fantasy world, they never forgot their family and friends on earth. Every year, they and the siblings lit a candle on the day that they had arrived in Middle-Earth, if they could. After introducing them to his children, Bard ordered his son to get the dwarves and even Aragorn had to suppress a smile at seeing the angry dwarves and hobbit coming out of the toilet. "Da, why are there dwarves coming out of our toilet?" Sigrid asked, watching the dwarves in shock.

"Wil they bring us luck?" Tilda asked in excitement. Grace simply chuckled at her question and shook her head. "They just might." She answered. A while later, they got some new clothing, with the women getting dresses from Bard's deceased wife, which they hesitantly put on only after the man's approval. Tilda was slightly intimidated by Aragorn, until the man kneeled to her level and spoke to her in a soft tone. Grace couldn't help, but smile at the sight.

Even on missions, he was always very good with children. He always knew how to distract them and calm them down. _'I wonder what he will be like with his own children.'_ Grace thought, blushing slightly. Victoria simply smiled at her friend and went to sit down in front of the fire. She relaxed slightly as the fire warmed her, Bilbo joining her. She closed her eyes and absentmindedly played with her fingers, listening to the company. For now, everything was peaceful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will probably be no chapter tomorrow as I'll be at a horse event all day long and I'll probably be very tired after that. If there is a chapter, it will probably be short. I'm sorry. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	20. Another split

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Grace and Aragorn were sitting in a corner, quietly talking with each other. "Why do I have the feeling that prince Legolas will give Eva a lot of heart attacks and headaches?" Aragorn asked and his soulmate laughed. "Probably because he will." She replied, remembering how Legolas took down a giant elephant on his own. She could practically see her friend facepalming at the action. 

Aragorn laughed at that and Grace smiled, before resting her head on his shoulders and closing her eyes, falling asleep soon after. Aragorn stroked her hair and smiled down at her, before closing his own eyes and falling asleep too, his head resting on hers. In front of the fireplace, Victoria had fallen asleep too, Bilbo resting against her side. They hadn't slept in at least a day. They needed their rest for what was to come. 

Having heard Balin say Thorin's name earlier while they had been discussing weapons, Bard left the house to double-check something. Using an old tapestry and hearing the villagers talk, his suspicions were proven correct: Thorin was the dwarf prince of Erebor. He started to stress out. It had long been foretold that dwarves would reclaim Erebor. An old prophecy was known to all the villagers of Laketown and it wasn't good at all.

Using the man's disappearance, the dwarves got ready to get some proper weapons from the armoury, not satisfied with Bard's weapons. Thorin first wanted to wake to humans up, but an awake Bilbo protested that. "They stayed awake all night to help you escape Mirkwood. They need their rest, Thorin." He said. Thorin reluctantly agreed to let them sleep and they snuck out, despite Bard's son trying to stop them from leaving. 

Needless to say, they got caught and were led to the master's home. "What is the meaning of this?" The spoiled, greedy man asked, walking out of his home with Alfrid following him. "We caught them stealing weapons." The head of the guards said. Alfrid called them mercenaries, which angered Dwalin. He loudly announced Thorin to all the people present. "We are the dwarves of Erebor. We have come to reclaim our homeland." Thorin said. 

This caused muttering amongst the crowd. "I remember this town in the days of old. This was no forsaken town on a lake. This was the centre of all trade in the north." Thorin continued, causing people to nod and shout in agreement. Thorin promised to bring those days, but one man didn't agree with that. "You will only bring death upon us!" Bard shouted loudly, the other three humans following him. 

Grace stood next to Dwalin. "We fall asleep for a few minutes and you immediately get in trouble. How you are still breathing is beyond me." She said. Dwalin chuckled, patting her arm. The master raised an eyebrow. "Now, who are they?" He asked, eyeing the new arrivals. "They are rangers, sire. Bard brought them into the town. I tried to stop them, but they didn't listen." Alfrid said, looking at them in disgust.

Meanwhile, Thorin managed to get the people by promising that they would share in the wealth of Erebor, resulting in cheers all since. Grace and Victoria shared a look, knowing that it wouldn't happen immediately. Stupid dragon sickness. Alfrid asked who could vouch for him and Bilbo stepped forwards, saying that if Thorin Oakenshield gives his word, he would keep it. Still not satisfied, Alfrid turned to the humans.

"What about you? Do you trust this dwarf?" He asked. Scowling slightly, Victoria stepped forwards. "I will freely admit that I did not always see eye-to-eye with him, especially not in the beginning of our journey. However, I will also freely say that Thorin Oakenshield is one of the most honourable people that I know and many people could take an example from him. Like master Baggins said: if he gives his word, he'll keep it." She said, looking at the master and Alfrid during the "example" part. Thorin smiled at her in gratitude and she smiled back.

Bard would not give up. "Have you forgotten what happened to Dale?! Have you forgotten those that died in ther firestorm?! And for what purpose? The blind ambition of a mountain king, so driven by greed, he could not see past his own desire!" He shouted, looking at Thorin. The dwarf slowly turned to glare at him. "This will not go well." Aragorn muttered, Grace being the only one who heard him and she agreed. 

The master saw a chance and took Thorin's side, reminding Bard that his ancestor, Girion, had failed to kill the beast. Alfrid of course agreed with him. Bard slowly walked forwards to Thorin and muttered something to him. Thorin turned to the master and asked if he would help them. Seizing this chance to get even more rich, the master welcomed them and immediately ordered a feast to be prepared. 

During the feast, Alfrid was the centre of attention. Not because of himself, but because Victoria and a few children followed him through the evening, mimicking his every move and quickly hiding whenever he turned around. Grace and Aragorn quietly talked to each other, before going to Thorin. "My king. Can we speak to you in private?" Grace asked, giving him a playful bow. Thorin laughed and agreed, following them to another room.

The next day, a hungover Bofur was too late to catch the boat towards the mountain and sighed in despair at seeing it leave in the distance. A gentle hand on his shoulder made him look up and he smiled at seeing Grace and Aragorn. "Did you two miss the boat as well?" He asked. Grace shook her head. "We are not going with them." She replied, before gently leading him to a quiet spot. 

Bofur looked at her in surprise. "Why are you not going, lass? Don't you want to be there when the door opens?" He asked in confusion. Grace smiled gently. "While it will most certainly be a monumental thing for your kin, it will just be an opening of a door to us. Besides, there is another reason why we did not go with them." She replied, before leaning closer to the dwarf, so that she would not frighten anyone.

Bofur leaned closer as well. "As rangers, Strider and I always have to think of the worst scenario. What if the dragon is still alive? What if he gets angry at your kin? What if he gets out of the mountain and decides to burn this place down? Someone needs to help these people get to safety if that is the case and we do not know where the orcs are. Bard's house must be reeking of our scent." She told him. Thorin had argued with them, before finally agreeing to let them stay

Bofur widened his eyes. He had not thought of that. Grace looked up as she heard a few women talk about the prophecy. She stood up and gently asked them about it. "You do not know the prophecy?" One woman asked and Grace shrugged. "I'm not from around here." She replied, mentally chuckling about how true that statement was. The women shared a look, before shrugging and reciting the prophecy. 

_The Lord of Silver Fountains,_

_the King of Carven Stone,_

_the King Beneath the Mountain,_

_shall come into his own_

_And the bells shall ring in gladness,_

_at the Mountain King’s return,_

_But all shall fail in sadness,_

_and the Lake will shine and burn_

_But the water's mistress_

_Will heed its call._

_And all shall watch_

_The dragon's fall._

Grace politely thanked the women and walked back to her soulmate and friend. "I have heard the prophecy before, but the last part is unfamiliar to me." She muttered, before shaking her head. "Come on. We need to find a strategic place in case that the orcs will come." She said, before leading the way. "Maybe, we can ask the master for help." Bofur said naively. Aragorn shook his head. "The master only cares for his wealth and nothing more." He muttered, before following his soulmate, forcing Bofur to run a bit in order to keep up. 

On the boat, Victoria swallowed as she watched the mountain get closer. She was about to face a real, living dragon and her friends were nowhere in sight. Yes, she had the company, but the group of humans had fallen apart like the Fellowship of The Ring. Kíli sensed her nerves and put his hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him in gratitude, before taking a deep breath and straightening her shoulders. There was no going back now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	21. DRAGON!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The smaller company got out of the boat and started to walk towards where Dale used to be. When they finally arrived at the ruins, Victoria felt her heart break at the sight. She could only imagine how many casualties had fallen. Fíli and Kíli patted her on the back, feeling the same. During the journey, they had become honorary big brothers to her and she loved it. She heard Balin and Bilbo talk, but didn't pay attention. 

Thorin wanted to move forward, but Bilbo reminded that Gandalf had promised to meet them there. "Do you see him anywhere?" Thorin asked sarcastically, before continuing on, the company following him. Victoria wrapped an arm around Bilbo and led him along, leaving the ruined city behind. Finally arriving at the mountainside, they just had to find the way to the hidden door. Victoria knew where it was, but decided to help Bilbo with finding it.

"Let's check over here." She said, leading the hobbit over to the right place. Bilbo quickly saw the stairs built into the giant statue. "Over here! We found it!" He called and the others quickly joined them. "Well done, master Baggins and lady Victoria." Thorin said with a smile. Victoria held up a finger. "Can we drop the "lady" bit. We've travelled together for the past few months and I do not have any titles. Please just call me by my given name. Your nephews already do it." She said. 

Thorin grinned at her. "Very well, Victoria." He said. The woman grinned back, before they started the climb. Kíli was in front of Bilbo and Victoria and Fíli was behind them. After several hours of climbing and as the sun was setting, they arrived at a small platform with a empty stone wall. "Let everyone who has doubted us rue this day!" Thorin called, holding up the key with an actual smile on his face. 

The company cheered loudly, before they tried to find the keyhole. They failed as the light that the map had been talking about wasn't sunlight, but moonlight. Thorin got more desperate as the sun sank lower in the sky, before disappearing completely. The whole company sagged in defeat, thinking that they had failed. Giving up, Thorin dropped the key and the company started to go down again, but Victoria stopped them.

"Wait a minute! Wait! Wait!" She called and the company turned towards her. Pretending to think about the problem, Victoria continued. "The runes on the map were only visible in moonlight, right?" She asked and the dwarves nodded. She gestured to the wall. "What the keyhole is the same? What if the light mentioned on the map isn't sunlight, but moonlight? She asked again. 

The company muttered amongst each other for a few seconds, not having thought about that. Thorin walked up to Victoria and gave her a look. She shrugged nervously. "We have travelled for several months. What is a few more minutes compared to that?" She asked, Bilbo having found the key and holding it out. Thorin was silent for a few seconds, before agreeing. The company climbed back up and after a few minutes they heard something knocking.

A thrush was beating a nut or an acorn against the wall, just as the moon appeared and shone its light on the wall, revealing a little hole in it. The company all sighed in relief. Dwalin clapped his hands on Victoria's shoulder, almost making her stumble. "Well done, lass." He praised. The company all smiled at her as well, knowing that they would have missed the opportunity if it hadn't been for her. Now they could take their homeland back. 

Thorin slowly put the key in the keyhole and turned it, before pushing the door open. Victoria and Bilbo shared a look and smiled, knowing that this was a very important moment for the dwarves. After so many years, they were finally home. Fíli and Kíli carefully walked into the door as well, getting their first glimpse of Erebor as they had been born after the dragon had taken it for himself. 

Victoria stayed outside, letting the dwarves have their moment. Kíli suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gave her a hug, making her yelp in surprise. "Thank you." Was all that the prince said. Victoria smiled and hugged him back, just as Fíli joined the hug. They pulled apart, just as Bilbo was about to go into the mountain. Victoria gave the hobbit a very big hug. "Good luck, Bilbo." She whispered. Bilbo hugged her back, before going inside. 

They waited for several minutes, when the mountain started to rumble. Everyone jumped a bit and gasped, Fíli and Kíli quickly grabbing Victoria's arms, so that she wouldn't fall. "Was that an earthquake?" Dori asked. Balin, who had been sitting nearby, stood up slowly. "That, my lad was a dragon." He said softly. Fíli, Kíli and Victoria shared a look, extremely worried about their hobbit.

A few more minutes later, a concerned Ori spoke up. "What about Bilbo?" He asked. Thorin, who had been looking out over the barren wasteland, barely looked at him. "Give him more time." He answered gruffly. Victoria looked at him, knowing that the sickness was taking him over. "Time for what, exactly?" She asked. Balin agreed with her. "Indeed. Time for what? To be killed?" He asked, looking at Thorin with narrowed eyes, suspecting the same thing that Victoria already knew. 

Thorin looked at Balin. "You're afraid." He stated. Balin gave him a look. "Yes. I am afraid. I fear for you." He said. Victoria tuned out the rest of their conversation, already knowing it. She suddenly felt Kíli tremble a bit and looked up to see him look at Thorin in confusion and slight fear. She felt pity for him. It must kne terrible to see your uncle transform into someone that you could not recognise..

She squeezed his shoulder, just as Thorin suddenly ran into the mountain without warning, forcing them to quickly stand up and follow him into the maze that was Erebor. They found Thorin and Bilbo stare at something and Victoria swallowed and gripped her new daggers as the company joined the two and faced the beast coming their way: Smaug the terrible. "You will burn!" The monster roared, rushing towards them. 

Fíli and Kíli quickly pulled Victoria down a small slope of gold that led towards a hallway, where the dragon could not reach them. The company quickly followed them, with Thorin following last. His coat was burning, but he quickly stopped, dropped and rolled over the floor, disposing his coat in the process. _'Denethor could learn from that.'_ Victoria thought, before they followed Thorin onwards.

They walked through an eerily quiet and dark Erebor. Dori thought that they had lost the dragon, but Dwalin disagreed. "He's too cunning for that." He muttered. With Thorin leading the way, they walked over the walkway. Victoria gulped a bit. She hated heights with a passion and these stupid walkways didn't even have railings. They suddenly heard a coin fall and all checked their pockets, except for Victoria, who looked up instead. 

Following her example, the dwarves and hobbit looked up as well, seeing Smaug pass over them. Coins fell from in-between his scales as he went on, not seeing them. They silently continued on their way. Once they were safe, they started running. They turned a corner, only to see a blocked entrance and several bodies/skeletons of dwarves on the ground. Men and women. Adults and children.

"The last of our kin. They must have come here hoping beyond hope." Balin said softly. Victoria bit her lip and tightened her grip on her daggers, tears in her eyes. God knows how much she hated this dragon. Bilbo grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Thorin refused to die while hiding for his life and ordered them to split up and lead the dragon to the forges. Victoria kept this moment in her brain, knowing that this would be the last time that she would see sane Thorin for a while. 

She, Fíli and Kíli made a group and ran through Erebor. Seeing the dragon going after Thorin, Balin and Bilbo, Victoria put her fingers in her mouth and whistled, catching his attention. "Hey Sherlock! I bet that you can't catch us!" She called, before they started to run again. Smaug followed them, until the group that consisted out of Ori, Dori and Bombur lured him towards themselves. 

They arrived at the forges and took deep breaths. "Who is Sherlock?" Fíli asked. Victoria gave him a look. "Really? You are asking this now?" She said rhetorically. Fíli hummed, just as some of the other dwarves entered. They saw Thorin go down a shaft with Smaug following. After several tense minutes, they finally managed to temporarily get the better of Smaug and get Thorin out out the shaft.

Smaug let out a blaze of fire in anger and Victoria already felt the sweat forming on her forehead. Dwalin and Balin said that they couldn't get the furnaces ablaze as they didn't have a fire hot enough for it. Getting a crazy gleam in his eyes, Thorin started to taunt the reemerging Smaug, saying that he had grown slow and fat and calling him a slug. He turned towards the company and told them to take cover.

Most of the company did so, but Kíli slipped and fell. "Kili!" Fíli shouted, running towards his brother as the dragon's throat began to glow, indicating another firestorm. The company looked on in horror as the two princes weren't out of the way. Thorin was about to run forward, but someone was ahead of him. Victoria ran towards the brothers and shielded as best as she could. Smaug breathed his fire and Victoria instinctively threw out her hands as the fire engulfed them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm busy writing another story, so updates will probably be every other day
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	22. I see fire

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The company all looked on in shock and horror as the fire engulfed the place where Victoria, Fíli and Kíli had been standing. Several of the dwarves already felt tears in their eyes. Thorin stared at the spot in denial. He refused to believe that his nephews were gone. Suddenly, the fire started to spin around, forming a cocoon. The literal fiery cocoon opened up, revealing Victoria, Fíli and Kíli. All three were unharmed. 

Victoria was moving her hands and the fire followed her movements. She threw out her first and shot the fire back towards the dragon. Smaug turned his head away and growled, before starting to bang the gates down. The fire that had shot past the two dwarves and human had lit up the furnaces. Realising that they didn't have much time, Thorin pulled his nephews close for a second, before patting Victoria's arm and ordering Balin to make special flash bombs. 

He ordered Bilbo to go up a flight of stairs and to pull a lever at his command. Victoria wanted to follow him, but Thorin ordered her to use her new-found powers to help heating up the furnaces even more. Taking a deep breath, she felt her new power course thorough her. She concentrated and threw her arms up. The flames immediately grew at least twice as big. Thorin laughed loudly at this, but Victoria hoped that he wouldn't order her to do something terrible, once he was sick. 

The gates broke down and Thorin ordered Victoria to hide, which she quickly did. Once Smaug was in the right position, Thorin ordered Bilbo to pull the lever and water suddenly shot out of holes in the wall, surprising the dragon. Seeing that he was distracted, Victoria made the flames grow again from her hiding spot, knowing that it was vital. The other dwarves threw the newly-created flash flames to Smaug, but it barely made an impact.

The water made gears turn again for the first time in a long time, moving ropes on which giant metal buckets were hanging, filled to the brim with stones. Hoping that the gold in the furnaces had been melted enough by now, Thorin pulled on a chain that made the now liquid gold flow in crevices in the floor. Smaug wanted to follow him, but Gloin, who was up in one of the metal buckets, cut another rope and let the heavy load fall on the dragon. 

Kíli ran to Victoria and pulled her with him as they ran out of the room. Victoria looked over her shoulder in concern, knowing that Bilbo would have to run from the dragon on his own. They stopped behind a giant statue and grabbed the chains that led to it. She saw Thorin stand on the shoulder of the statue and heard Smaug come closer, intent to start burning down Laketown.

Thorin called him loudly to get his attention. He gave a strong speech about how they would have their revenge, before pulling another chain and Victoria pulled on the other one with the rest of the dwarves. The stone fell away revealing a statue made of gold. After a few seconds, the statue collapsed, covering and submerging the dragon in gold. Smaug roared un anger, before disappearing for a few seconds.

Victoria frowned, silently counting down in her head. _'Three... two... one...'_ She thought, before a furious Smaug reemerged from the gold. "Revenge?! Revenge?! I'll show you revenge!" He roared, making his way out of Erebor. The company ran after him, having to go around the still hot and liquid gold. Running outside, they watched Smaug fly to the unassuming town. Victoria hoped that her friends would be alright.

_Laketown._

_An hour earlier._

"Do you see anything, lass?" Bofur whispered from the hiding spot where he, Aragorn and Grace were hiding underneath Bard's house. Grace shook her head, glancing around the corner. "Nothing." She hissed back, just as there was a tremor in the earth. Aragorn quickly grabbed her arm to steady her. They shared a worried look, knowing what it meant. Even Bofur understood that this wasn't good as he looked at the mountain in the distance. 

"Oh dear." He muttered softly, before the door of Bard's house opened and the man himself snuck out with a black arrow, which was the only thing that could kill a dragon according to legend. The rangers and dwarf quickly hid from sight. Bard was followed by his son, Bain, leaving his daughters alone in the house. Bain returned after a while and went back inside.Grace tightened her grip on one of her daggers. "Come on, you bastards." She muttered to herself, just as they saw something appear on a nearby roof. 

Orcs slowly appeared on other roofs, no doubt looking for the company. Grace heard Bard's eldest daughter call out for him and desperately wished for her to go back inside. Hearing a thump and her scream, the two rangers and one dwarf got in action. They ran out of their hiding spot and started killing orcs with their new weapons on their way. After a few seconds, they managed to fight their way inside the house.

"Get under the table! Now!" Grace ordered the two girls and boy. They didn't hesitate to obey. The three of them did their best to fight of the monsters, when one of the orcs suddenly got its head cut off by a dagger and a blonde haired elf jumped down through the roof. Back-up had arrived. Tauriel, Eva and James got in as well. "You're late." Grace said. Eva shot her a glare, before killing another orc. 

"It's not our fault that our friends decide to sneak off in the middle of the night." She snapped back. Seeing that the humans, elves and dwarf had the upper hand, despite being in the minority and that Thorin wasn't there, the orcs retreated. Legolas followed them and Tauriel followed him. Grace kneeled down in front of the scared children. "It's alright. You're safe now. The orcs are gone." She said, before there was another rumble. 

Tilda whimpered in fear, despite her sister and Grace trying to calm her down. The ranger didn't know what else to say to them as she knew that smaug was coming and fast. They had to get the people out of town and as soon as possible. Looking at Aragorn, Grace, James and Bofur, Eva made a decision. "Pack only the essential things. You're leaving." She ordered the children.

She put her daggers back in their holsters, before turning to her friends and ordering them to get the children out of there via the boat. "What are you going to do?" James asked, worried about his sister. She smirked in reply. "I'm going to do something very illegal. I'm going to break someone out of jail. "She said with a laugh, before quickly walking out of the door and disappearing into the night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	23. Fire and water

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Eva snuck through Laketown, making sure that no one saw her. She slipped past a giant statue and picked up the black arrow that Bain had hidden there. When she came to the jail, the soldiers had already left, leaving the keys. She grabbed the keys and walked towards the right cell. Bard jumped slightly in surprise. "Who are you?" He asked suspiciously. Eva simply smiled in response, showing him the black arrow.

"I'm a friend." She said, before finding the right key and opening the lock, just as they heard alarm bells ring. They shared a look. "He's here." Eva muttered, before giving Bard the black arrow. "Go. I'll try to save as many people as I can." She said. Bard nodded and ran out. Just as Eva got out, there was a loud roar and fire rained down from the sky. She looked on in horror, before starting to run.

She stopped at the edge of the "curb," water blocking her way. Jumping into the ice cold water would probably freeze her to death, but she was not going to let those people die. She took a few steps back and took a flying leap towards the water, only to keep running. Looking down, she saw that she was literally _running over_ _water_. She started to laugh as realisation hit her. ' _Water! My power is water. Oh, yes!'_  She cheered in her mind, before running towards the burning buildings. 

She threw out her arms and water shot up, dousing the flames. She ran into the houses and helped people get out of them, telling them to stick as close to the water as they could. She was just carrying out two children out of their former house, when Grace joined her. "Aragorn is at the other side of town and James is with Bard's children and Bofur. "She said. Eva nodded and gave her one of the children.

"Lead them out of Laketown. Tell them to leave what they can behind. Speed is the most important thing right now." She instructed. Grace nodded, before leaving. After saving more people, she saw the master try to escape with his gold. "Oh no, you don't." Sne muttered, before making the water throw all the gold overboard. "No! My gold!" The master shouted, just as Eva jumped on the boat and pointed her blade at his neck, making him stand incredibly still.

"You will use your boat to get the people to safety or you and I will have a big problem." She growled. "Now, wait just a second-" Alfrid started, but Eva threw out her arm and a wave of water knocked him off the boat. Seeing Smaug come down again for another round and not seeing Bard anywhere, Eva held the blade even tighter against the man's neck. "Do it!" She ordered. The master reluctantly ordered the guards to help the people onboard. Eva gave him one last warning look, before jumping off the boat and continuing on.

James, Bofur and Bard's children were on another boat, getting the younger ones to safety. _'How did I become the babysitter.'_ James thought dryly as he paddled the boat onwards, seeing Smaug head towards the town again, his chest glowing with fire. He had to get the children out of here. He quickly paddled further, worried about his sister and friends. He just hoped that they would be alright

Just as Smaug opened his mouth to fire, water shot up from the lake and right into his mouth. He flew up in surprise, before glaring at the town beneath him. He noticed that his fire had been doused. Who was responsible for that!? He suddenly saw one, tiny, female human jump on the roof of the nearest house. She glared up at him and readied herself, showing no fear and the water following her every move and command.

"You will not harm the people of this town! Not as long as I'm here!" She called loudly. Intrigued, Smaug lowered himself slowly, the lake being a mere puddle for him. "Another human who dares to face me? Today must be my lucky day." He said. He let out a stream of fire, which was blocked by the water that Eva quickly sent his way. Legolas had just lost his fight with Azog's spawn Bolg, the orc disappearing on his warg with Tauriel in pursuit, when he saw his soulmate facing a dragon.

He paled drastically. "Eva!" He shouted, starting to run towards them. Seeing Smaug turn his head towards the elf, Eva shot water at him to make him focus on her. Smaug smirked darkly. "You care about each other, don't you? Good. Then he can watch you die!" He hissed, before lifting his head, his chest glowing  "No!" Legolas screamed, before something flew through the air and hit Smaug in the one weak spot in his scales.

It was the black arrow that Bard had fired. Everyone watched as the dragon roared in pain, before trying to fly up through the pain. His tail hit the building that Eva was standing on, completely destroying it. Legolas immediately ran towards the spot, as did Aragorn, who was nearby. The house was completely destroyed, pieces of wood lying everywhere. Both Aragorn and Legolas frantically called Eva's name, but to no response.

Aragorn suddenly saw a piece of eva's cloak peeking out from underneath a beam. He quickly called Legolas and both men lifted the beam up and away. Underneath it was Eva. Her eyes were closed and her head was bleeding. Aragorn quickly looked for a pulse, sighing in relief at finding one. "She's alive." He said and Legolas sighed in relief. They had gotten closer while following the company and he didn't want to lose her just yet.

"We need to get her out of here." Aragorn muttered, before the ground shook under the weight of a dead dragon. The house cracked and both men shielded the unconscious woman in case that something happened. Luckily, nothing fell again. Bard appeared in the doorway. "Is everyone alright?" He asked, looking at Eva in worry. Legolas lifted her up quickly, but gently and carried her out of the house.

At the edge of the lake, they met with Grace, James, Bard's children, Bofur and the other people of Laketown. Bard's children immediately greeted him happily, relieved that he was alive. James's eyes widened at seeing his unconscious sister. "Eva! Is she alright?!" He asked frantically. Legolas gently laid her down on the ground and one of the women came forwards with some bandages. 

Legolas took them gratefully and James carefully lifted Eva's head, so the elf could wrap them around the wound. Once that was done, James checked for more wounds or broken bones, but strangely and miraculously, there didn't seem to be any. Grace hugged Aragorn tightly, before turning to look at her friend in concern. She sighed in frustration at hearing Alfrid complain about how he was the most miserable of all. 

Really not wanting to deal with this right now, Grace ripped herself out of Aragorn's arms, stormed over to the infuriating man and punched him in the face, knocking him out for now. With him temporarily silenced, Grace walked back over to her friends and soulmate. Aragorn simply smiled and nodded, knowing that he deserved it. Bard ordered everyone to get as much rest as they could and they did their best. Legolas and James kept watch over Eva during the entire night. 

Grace and Aragorn sat nearby, their arms around each other, unable to sleep either. Grace smiled at feeling her soulmate kiss the side of her head. There still were a few casualties, but not as much as there would have been if not for Eva. She had saved so many people and hearing the whispers going on around them, she knew that the people of Laketown would not forget this any time soon. She just hoped that eva would live to tell the tale. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eva's hero moment
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	24. To Dale

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

It was already day by the time that Eva woke up, feeling both comfortable and uncomfortable. The last thing that she remembered was Smaug starting to fly up, destroying the house that she was standing on. She remembered surrounding herself in water to try and soften the blow, before darkness. She suddenly felt the ground beneath her moving and realised that she was lying in someone's arms, their heartbeat a soothing lullaby against her ear. 

"How long do you think that she will be unconscious?" She heard her brother's voice from her other side. The person holding her sighed deeply. "I do not know. She took quite a hit." The soft voice of Legolas spoke up and if she had the strength, Eva would have sighed in relief. However, everything in her body hurt, so she didn't. She heard people shouting and screaming and felt guilt about how she didn't save everyone, even if she knew that it was impossible. 

She slowly turned her head and groaned. She felt Legolas stiffen in surprise. "Eva? Can you hear me?" He asked. Eva groaned again and finally managed to lift her heavy eyelids. She immediately squeezed them shut as the light blinded her. She felt Legolas move slightly and a shadow fell over her. She carefully opened her eyes again and stared right into the concerned, blue eyes of her soulmate.

She smiled weakly. "Hello. Sorry for scaring you." She whispered, glancing between her soulmate and brother, both of them looking incredibly relieved. Legolas held her even closer and Eva rested her head against his chest with her eyes closed, still feeling weak. James was holding her hand and she heard Grace and Aragorn in the distance, doing their best to help people. At least they were alright, but she was quite worried about Victoria.

She winced at hearing Alfrid whine, but frowned at hearing a thwack sound, followed by silence. James sighed. "You would think that after the third time, he would eventually learn that if he doesn't shut up, Grace will gladly do the shutting up for him." He muttered. Eva smiled a bit at that, glad to hear that her friend was taking care of the bastard. She suddenly heard Tauriel speaking up out of nowhere, telling Legolas that she had lost the orc that she had been following.

Legolas told her that he had recognised the orc as the spawn of Azog and bearing a mark coming from Gundabad, an orc stronghold that was north of the Misty Mountains. Just then, they heard another elf call Legolas, saying that Thranduil was requesting his presence back in Mirkwood, but that Tauriel and the humans had been banished and that included the siblings. Legolas scowled slightly at that.

It had been his idea to take the siblings with him in search of Tauriel and now his father had banished all three of them. "You can tell my father that Eva and James were completely innocent in this and that if my soulmate is not allowed to go, then I will not go either." He almost growled. Eva looked up at him in surprise and James looked suitably impressed. At least no one was putting him in the friendzone any time soon. 

"Legolas, he is your king and father." Eva whispered, wanting to make sure that he knew what he was doing. Legolas looked down at her and smiled again, carefully brushing her hair back. "He may be the king, but he does not command my heart." He said and Eva was pretty sure that she felt her own heart skip a beat. Seeing Legolas being torn between going to Gundabad and staying with Eva, James put a hand on his shoulder.

"Go with Tauriel. Me, Estel and Grace wil look after her." He said, once the prince was looking at him. Legolas was still torn, until he felt a hand grabbing his wrist. He looked down to see Eva's eyes full of determination. "Go. I'll be fine" She ordered. Legolas sighed, before kissing the top of her head and carefully handing her over to James. He and Tauriel quickly left after that. With her brother's help, Eva slowly got up.

She almost instantly fell again, so James just picked her up and carried her. Suddenly remembering something, Eva asked her brother to put her by the water. James looked confused but obeyed. Sitting at the edge of the water, Eva pulled off her bandages with her brother's help, wincing in pain through the process. Concentrating deeply, she slowly made the water go to her wound and took a deep breath. 

The water actually glowed for a few seconds and when she made it pull away, the wound was completely gone. James was very impressed. "Wow, so you can actually do that? Who knew that Avatar actually had some things right about waterbending." He said with a laugh. "Toph." Eva replied teasingly. James simply smirked. "Katara." He shot back, making his sister laugh, before slowly getting up again. 

Seeing that Eva was awake, Bard ordered the people of Laketown to move towards Dale, having assumed leadership after said people almost killed the master for wanting to leave them behind. Bofur had already left in a small boat to be with his kin. Eva just hoped that he would make it, before Thorin closed the gate. On the journey there, several people came up to Eva to thank her for saving their lives.

A lot of people looked at her in respect and admiration, except for the former master and Alfrid, but no one listened to them. They weren't in charge any longer and they hated it. Aragorn and Grace helped carrying the weak and injured. After at least several hours of walking, they finally arrived at the ruins of Dale. They quickly set up camp in the ruins and the three humans from earth and Aragorn did their best to help

Once everyone was settled to the best of their abilities, Grace couldn't help, but pace around a bit. It was only a couple of days, until the Battle of The Five Armies would begin. What if they failed in saving Thorin and his nephews? What if someone else died in their stead? At the end of the afternoon, she went to a higher platform and looked out towards the way that they had come from, but saw nothing at all. 

Aragorn came to stand next to her and wrapped an arm around her as they looked out over the barren plains. "Why do I have the feeling that something big is going to happen?" He muttered. Grace sighed deeply and leaned into his side. "Because something big is about to happen and it isn't good." She replied, trembling slightly in the cold winter air. Aragorn held her even closer, before they walked down to join the others. 

The next day, Aragorn, Grace, James and Eva were doing their best to help the hungry villagers. Bard walked towards them with a grim expression and called them. "There's someone, who wants to see you." He said, looking sideways. The small group either paled or gulped at seeing an armoured Thranduil turn around the corner, his expression fierce, angry and very unamused. "We are in so much trouble." Grace muttered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	25. Help arrives

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just put you under heavy guard right now?" Thranduil finally asked after a rant of at least ten minutes about how they had betrayed his trust and everything. The group just barely managed to keep themselves from being bound. Bard tried to speak up, but Grace held up a hand to stop him. They were more than able to defend themselves. The fisherman had also attempted to speak with Thorin, but it had been a dead end

"I mean no offence with this, your majesty, but what would you do if a dragon took your homeland from you? We just did what we thought was right." She stated Thranduil looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "And because of your beliefs, a town was almost burned to the ground. It is a miracle that it is still mostly intact." He said. James held up his hand. "Uhm, sir. It was actually Eva, who saved the town from being destroyed by dragonfire." He spoke up, motioning towards his sister.

Eva was standing in the corner of the tent with her arms crossed, not really saying anything. "How?" Thranduil asked in a disbelieving tone. How could one human woman save a town from a firebreathing dragon?! Bard handed Eva his goblet of water and she took it. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated and held her hand above the goblet. Slowly, the water started to rise from the goblet and Thranduil started to sit up straight.

Eva let a smirk show on her face at his shocked expression. "The whole town was build on a lake. Plenty of water to douse the flames." She said in a light tone. She put the water back and gave the goblet to Bard, who went to check on his people. Thranduil was still too shocked to say anything, so James did it instead. "Yeah, apparently the Valar gave us control over the elements. I have earth, Eva has water and if I remember what lady Galadriel told us, then Grace has air and Victoria has fire." He explained. 

Grace and Eva both gasped in realisation. " _That_ was what she was talking about. I remember being confused about her talking about the elements, but she never says something that isn't important." Grace said, just as Bard returned. He was followed by none other than Gandalf. Eva smirked at him. "About time that you returned to us, Mithrandir. You missed Durin's day." She said and Gandalf looked sheepish. 

"I apologise, my dear girl. I was delayed." The old wizard explained, before turning towards Thranduil and starting to talk about how an army was coming their way. The king wasn't really interested... or taking it seriously. "You must set aside your petty grievances with the dwarves. War is coming and you're all in mortal danger." He warned. Bard seemed rightfully concerned, but Thranduil barely refrained from rolling his eyes. 

Eva was thinking about how they could convince him that the army was actually coming, but Grace spoke up. "Lord Elrond said that he saw orcs marching on the mountain and that we had to hurry." She said and everyone looked at her. "When did he tell you this?" Aragorn asked and Grace looked at him, a bit of regret visible. "When I asked him permission to tell you about you-know-what." She answered. 

Aragorn smiled gently and kissed her forehead, silently telling her that he had forgiven her. Eva made a face, remembering that she would have to tell Legolas the truth too one day. Seeing Bard and Thranduil look confused about what Grace had said, James quickly said that it was a personal thing between the two of them and they nodded at that. Gandalf took over again and said that the orcs wanted the mountain. 

It wasn't just filled with gold, but also had the perfect, strategic position to reclaim the dark kingdom of Angmar in the north. The humans from earth shared a look and smiled a bit, remembering how a certain king from that land would hopefully be defeated by a simple shield maiden of Rohan. Thranduil asked where the armies were and Eva pretended to look at the surrounding hills in thought.

"Maybe, they are travelling underground." She muttered. Everyone looked at her and she shrugged, saying that she'd read about wereworms. Thranduil scoffed. "Those are just a myth." He said dismissively. Eva gave him a small glare. "Well, at least I'm making a suggestion. I don't hear you say anything." She shot back. James, Aragorn and Grace shared a look. Well, Christmas was going to be a right blast with the two of them. 

This went well into the evening as Thranduil still refused to listen. "Since when has my council counted for so little? What do you think I'm trying to do?" Gandalf asked in complete frustration. Thranduil thought that he was trying to save the dwarves, but wouldn't let it stop him. "You started this, Mithrandir. You will forgive me if I finish it." He said lowly, before ordering the archers to kill anything that moved on the mountain. 

The humans all shared a look, having gotten blankets as the day cooled even more. Grace was sharing hers with Aragorn and was resting her head on his shoulder, almost asleep. Eva kept silent after Thranduil had threatened to put her away if she opened her mouth again. James had flipped the king off behind his back, before sitting down next to his sister. Out of options, Gandalf turned to Bard 

"Is gold so important to you that you would buy it with the blood of dwarves?" He asked. Bard tried to reason that it wouldn't come to that as this was a fight that the dwarves couldn't win. "That won't stop them." A familiar voice spoke up and a certain hobbit appeared out of nowhere. "The dwarves won't surrender. They'll fight to the death to defend their home." Bilbo continued. The humans smiled at seeing him. 

"If I'm not mistaken, then this is the halfling who stole the keys to my dungeons from under the noses of my guards." Thranduil said after Bilbo had been brought into the tent. The king glanced at Aragorn and Grace as he said this, but the former shook his head, saying that the hobbit already had the keys when he came to get them. Changing the subject, Bilbo took the Arkenstone out of his pocket. 

He offered to use it to try and make Thorin see reason, having taken it as his 14th share of the treasure. "I know dwarves can be stubborn and difficult and have the worst manners imaginable, but they are also kind and loyal to a fault. I just want to try and save them." He said The humans from earth, Aragorn and Gandalf all smiled at the brave hobbit. After a shared look, Thranduil and Bard agreed to try. 

Business over and concluded, Bilbo ran to hug the humans. "It's good to see you, Bilbo. How are Victoria and the rest of the company?" Eva asked. "They're mostly alright for now. Thorin is not himself and has succumbed to the dragon sickness. Oh and Victoria can control fire." He said, still slightly freaked out over that fact. Victoria had hidden herself somewhere in the mountain, not wanting to let Thorin use her as a weapon. 

Only Fíli and Kíli knew where she was and they made sure to sneak food and water to her, when they weren't looking for the already found Arkenstone. The humans nodded at this. "That means that I really have air." Grace said, having woken up. She looked at her hands and made a face. You couldn't exactly hit, drown or burn someone with air. She was going to have to think about this. Bilbo had frowned at her words, before Eva had shown him her powers and the hobbit had stared at it with open mouth.

Gandalf came up and took Bilbo with him. The humans from earth smiled, knowing that he would sneak back to the mountain. The silence was interrupted when an elf stepped into the tent and bowed to the king. "My lord Thranduil. Another army has arrived. The sons of lord Elrond are leading them." The elf said. They walked with him to where Elladan and Elrohir were indeed waiting for them.

Once all the greetings were over and done with, Thranduil went to business. "Is this about the orc armies that your father has seen?" He asked, still a bit sceptical. Elladan glanced at the spot behind the king, where the humans were all nodding vigorously. Looking back at the king, he replied in the affirmative. "Our father has sent us to help the innocent people of Laketown." He said and Thranduil leaned back in thought.

If even the sons of lord Elrond said that the armies were coming, then maybe it was true after all. He dismissed everyone and went back in his tent to think. The humans all greeted their surrogate brothers happily, although James noticed that they were looking at him with a mischievous look in their eyes. He was about to ask what was wrong, when two hands covered his own eyes and his heart stopped beating for a second. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	26. A reunion and preparing

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

"Guess who?" A familiar voice whispered into James's ear, who grabbed the person's wrist and pulled them from his eyes, before turning around and looking at a smiling Arwen. "Oh my God. What are you doing here?" He asked, before the elleth surged forward and kissed him straight on the mouth, shutting him up. He was surprised for a second, before holding her even closer and kissing her back. 

The rest of the group all politely looked away, so that they could have their reunion. Pulling back slightly, James stared at his soulmate. "What are you doing here?" He asked again, this time in a softer voice. Arwen smiled at him, caressing his cheek. "Did you think that I was going to let you save the day without me?" She asked in a teasing tone. James sputtered a bit, his instinct telling him to get Arwen out of there, away from the danger. 

Seeing the conflict in his eyes, Arwen kissed him again. "I can handle myself, James and I have you." She said, making her soulmate smile. She smiled back, before embracing him tightly. Eva turned back to the twin brothers. "Did lord Elrond actually have a vision of this?" She asked and Elladan shook his head, glancing at Grace. Eva followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow at her friend, who simply shrugged in reply. 

"I thought that he might provide help, even if he was busy saving Gandalf's stubborn butt at the time." She added, rolling her eyes slightly. She had told lord Elrond about it when she had asked permission to tell Aragorn about where they came from. Being a Tolkien fan, she had once looked up the date of the upcoming battle and had miraculously remembered it. Lord Elrond had promised to help when the time came

The others laughed at that, before splitting apart to get some rest and to prepare themselves for the battle of the next day. Aragorn grabbed Grace's hand and led her to the one of the tents that Thranduil had reluctantly given them to stop a certain wizard's whining. It had a bed that was just big enough for the two of them if they squeezed. Aragorn was willing to sleep on the ground, but Grace wouldn't hear of it. She needed the comfort just as much as he did

Once in the tent, he turned to his soulmate and Grace easily saw the fear in his eyes. Fear of the upcoming battle. Fear of losing her. Fear of being left behind. Fear of leaving her behind. She cupped his face with both of her hands and rested her forehead against his. "It's alright, my love. It will just be another battle. We will win this." She whispered, her voice full of confidence. Aragorn took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He gripped her wrists both tightly and gently at the same time. Even now, Grace felt a slight tremble in them and she softly hushed her soulmate. _"It started out as a feeling, which then grew into a hope..."_ She started to sing. During the course of the song, Aragorn relaxed slightly, his breaths becoming calmer. Grace smiled at him, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. _"I'll come back, when you call me, no need to say goodbye..."_ She finished the song. 

Aragorn took another deep breath and kissed both of her palms. Grace's smile grew and she kissed the tip of his nose, startling a laugh out of him. Grace stepped closer to him and rested her head against his chest, wrapping both of her arms around him. He quickly returned the gesture, holding her tightly against his body and breathing in her scent. They stood there for quite some time, both needing and giving comfort

 _"Gi melin, Eruanna."_  Aragorn whispered, softly stroking her hair. Grace smiled at that. _"Gi melin, meleth nín."_ She whispered back. They slowly separated from each other before going to bed. Grace rested her head on her soulmate's chest and Aragorn had his arms tightly wrapped around her, stroking her golden blonde hair. Green eyes looked at him with so much love that he felt his heart skip a beat. He kissed her forehead, before resting his chin on the top of her head and closing his eyes. They both fell asleep soon after

Eva went to meditate and tried to train her new powers as much as she could. She mostly had the movements under control, but she knew that she should have to practice more to perfect it. She wondered where her soulmate was right now and if he was alright. Gundabad was a dangerous place and even though she tried to suppress the thoughts, several "what if" scenarios ran through her head.

What if Legolas and Tauriel were spotted? What if they were captured? Eva could feel her heart and blood freeze at the thought of her soulmate being caught by orcs. She snapped herself out of her thoughts and realised that the water that she had been controlling had turned to ice as well. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated and the ice turned back into water. Dropping her arms, Eva watched the water splash on the ground. 

She suddenly realised that this was what Victoria would feel like for the next six decades and felt both sympathy and slight pity for her friend.The uncertainty about her soulmate was driving her crazy and she would see him again tomorrow, if everything went right. Victoria would not even _meet_ her soulmate for a while. She rubbed her eyes, before climbing into her bed and quickly falling asleep. 

James and Arwen went to their own tent and James showed her his new powers as they sat on the bed. Arwen was very impressed, especially when James told her that the three women had the other elements. Only Grace hadn't found hers yet, but James was certain that she would. They spent the rest of the time catching up with each other. Arwen told her soulmate that Thorin's father had woken up and would make the trip, once everything was over.

James just hoped that Thorin and his nephews would still be alive by then.James told Arwen about what she had missed and the elleth laughed loudly at hearing how Eva and Legolas had met and his sister's first words to her soulmate. It took a while for Arwen to stop chuckling as she pictured the meeting happening and her friend's shock at realising that she had insulted her own soulmate. They talked and talked, until they finally fell asleep. 

The next morning, they were woken up before dawn and got ready for battle. The Rivendell army stayed hidden in Dale with Elladan and Elrohir to protect the injured and the weak. Even though they had only seen the movie once, the humans had vaguely remembered the orc army going to Dale, while everyone was distracted. Hopefully, they would now have the element of surprise over those monsters

Arriving at the gate, the humans and one elleth stayed close to Gandalf in the back with the people of Laketown, while Thranduil and Bard went ahead on elk and horse respectively. The company of Thorin  Oakenshield was standing on top of the gate, all dressed in armour. Eva looked at all of them individually, but she saw no familiar Auburn hair and hazel eyes. Where was Victoria? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be at a theme park tomorrow, so there probably won't be any updates at all
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	27. The battle begins

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The mood in Erebor had been sombre, ever since the dragon had been defeated. Thorin had succumbed to dragon sickness and forced them to look for the Arkenstone. Bilbo had actually found it, but kept it hidden at Balin's advice. Even the return of Bofur and the news of the survival of their friends didn't fully lift the mood, although they were very happy up hear that everyone was alright.

Victoria had hidden herself somewhere in the mountain and rightfully so, as Thorin wanted to use her newfound powers against his enemies. The company had silently and unanimously agreed to protect from the mad king. Bombur made extra portions of food and the other dwarves, usually Fíli and Kíli, took them and water to a random point in the mountain to throw Thorin off. The food and water were almost always gone, when they returned.

Bard had tried to negotiate with Thorin, but the dwarf wouldn't have it and ordered him to be gone. The mood soured even more after that.Bilbo had enough of the situation and when the elven army had arrived, he snuck out with help from Bofur and ran towards the camp. There, he happily reunited with his human friends and gave the Arkenstone to Thranduil in an attempt to create peace.

Even though Gandalf ordered him to go back home, he used his ring and snuck back to the mountain. He wasn't going to leave his friends. The next morning, the dwarves all dressed up from battle. Bilbo snuck food away for Victoria to find, before quickly returning. Thorin gave him a chainmail shirt of Mithril, an incredibly strong material that, unbeknownst to Bilbo, would save his nephew's life one day.

Bilbo watched as Thorin sank even deeper into his madness as the dwarves went to the rebuild and closed gate, before following them. Standing at the top of the gate, Bilbo saw hundreds of elves ready to attack as well as several dozen humans. He didn't see his friends anywhere, but maybe they were hidden. His attention was pulled by Bard and Thranduil riding to the gate on a horse and an elk. 

As soon as they got too close, Thorin shot an arrow between the legs of Thranduil's elk, stopping them in their tracks. "I'll put the next one between your eyes." He threatened. The company cheered loudly at this, until the elves all aimed their arrows at them, making them quickly hide behind the wall. Only Thorin kept standing, his eyes glaring and a new arrow aimed at the elvenking. Thranduil ordered his soldiers to stand down and they obeyed.

The man and elf revealed that they had the Arkenstone, much to the shock of the dwarves. However, Thorin believed that it was a trick. Bilbo foolishly decided to speak up at this. "It's not a trick. I gave it to them after I took it as my 14th share of the treasure." He revealed, trying not to flinch as Thorin's mad glare slowly turned on him. After that, the hobbit just kept digging a hole for himself.

"I'm willing to let it stand against my claim." He said. "Your claim?! You don't have any claim, you little rat!" Thorin roared, stepping towards him. Bilbo flinched back slightly, before straightening his shoulders. "I was going to give it to you, but you have changed, Thorin. The dwarf that I met in Bag End would never have gone back on his word. Would never have wanted to use a friend as a weapon and would never have doubted the loyalty of his kin." He said, having had enough. 

This was the last straw for Thorin, who ordered the company to throw the hobbit of the rampart, much to the shock of pretty much everyone. Even Bard was shocked by how insane the dwarf had become. When none of the dwarves obeyed his command, Thorin proceeded to do it himself, despite the company desperately trying to stop him, only to be stopped by Gandalf's magnified voice coming out of nowhere.

"If you don't like my burglar, then please don't damage him! Return him to me!" The grey wizard ordered, walking forwards with the four humans and one elleth. Thorin slowly stopped his actions. Even in his mad state, he knew better than to anger a wizard. He slowly let go of the hobbit and Bilbo quickly clambered off the gate while he was distracted. Eva walked towards him and quickly led him to the others. 

Grace immediately checked him over for possible injuries, despite Bilbo not having any in the movie as far as she remembered. You could never be too certain. While they were distracted, Bard and Gandalf had tried to make Thorin see reason, but just as it seemed that they were breaking through to him, a raven landed on the gate and the madness returned. The sound of dozens and dozens of footsteps were heard and a dwarven army appeared over the hill. 

"Who are they?" Bilbo asked softly. Arwen had the same question as she tightly gripped James's hand. She vaguely recognised their banners, but forgot from where. "They're the armies from the Iron Hills. They're led by Dáin, who is Thorin's cousin." James explained, a grim expression on his face. "Are they alike?" Bilbo asked again and Eva scoffed. "According to Gandalf, Thorin is actually the more reasonable one." She said, making the hobbit gulp.

Thranduil ordered his army to face their new threat, telling Bard that he would deal with the dwarf. Dáin rode down the hill on his boar. "Good morning. How are we all?" He asked, seemingly jovially and with a Scottish sounding accent. Getting no answer, he continued. "I have a wee preposition if you don't mind giving me a few moments of your time. Would you consider... just sodding of?!" He suddenly shouted. 

Arwen jumped slightly at his sudden loud tone and the people of Laketown shifted nervously, despite Bard's attempts to keep them calm. Gandalf stepped forwards to try and calm things down, but the dwarven lord wouldn't listen. He says that he would not stand down for any elf, Thranduil least of all. Eva sighed and glanced at Ravenhill, where she already saw the orc command post ready. 

"If he chooses to stand between me and my kin, I'll split his pretty head open! See if he's still smirking then." Dáin shouted, making Eva focus herself back on the childish argument in front of her. Dáin rode back to his army, ignoring Gandalf once again. "Led them advance. Let's see how far they get." Thranduil said coolly. Dáin somehow heard it "You think that I give a dead dog for your threats, you pointy eared princess." He shouted back. 

Eva could practically feel the king's eyes on her at that line. Arwen also gave her a look, but it wasn't important right now. As the dwarves advanced, Thranduil ordered his archers top shoot, but the dwarves had something that destroyed the arrows. Elves and dwarves met and started to fight. The humans, wizard, hobbit and elleth couldn't do anything, but watch. "This is madness." Arwen muttered sadly.

"This is politics." Grace replied. "And our enemy is coming closer with every second." Aragorn added. Eva sighed. "He's already here." She said, looking back at Ravenhill. The others followed her example, just as a loud rumbling was heard. Hearing the same thing, both armies luckily stopped fighting each other. In a mountain range nearby, giant worms appeared, having created a way to Erebor.

They heard Azog command his armies to attack in black speech. Orcs streamed on the field. Grace and Aragorn grabbed each other's hand without even looking, focusing on the threat. James wrapped an arm around Arwen, his sword and powers at the ready. Eva had a hand on Bilbo's shoulder, the hobbit having Sting at the ready. "Here we go." She muttered, before pulling her own blade, ready to face the threat with her friends at her side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time. 
> 
> P. S. Who caught the reference to Pirates of the Caribbean?


	28. Battle of the five armies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle has truly begun

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The forces of Dáin immediately went to face the upcoming threat, while the elves stayed behind. Not wanting to see the dwarves die, Eva made her way to Thranduil. "Are you honestly going to leave the dwarves to their fate again? Do you want to be known as the person who came to aid the dwarves or do you want to be known as a coward?!" She asked harshly, ignoring Bard's shocked look at her words.

Thranduil stared at her for several seconds, while the orcs were getting closer. Making a decision, he made a gesture with his hands and the elves charged forwards and jumped over the dwarves to meet the upcoming orcs. Showing him a proud smirk, Eva went back to her friends and pulled out her weapons. The others quickly followed her example. Eva gave them all a glance. "Let's do this." She muttered and the others nodded. 

They formed a line of their own and soon saw several orcs come their way. They waited for the right moment and attacked, James and Eva using their normal weapons. They were slowly split apart in the heat of the battle, although the two soulmate couples managed to stay together. Aragorn and Grace showed why they were such a lethal duo. They watched each other's backs and when one blocked, the other attacked. There was no stopping them as the battle continued on .

James and Arwen fought together as well and while they weren't as good as Aragorn and Grace were, since those two were rangers and thus more used to fighting together, Arwen's elven speed and agility worked well with James's strength. Between the four of them, they made many casualties among the orcs, but they knew that the battle was just beginning and that they had a long way to go. 

Eva somehow had ended up fighting close to Thranduil and his elk. The king suddenly got an idea and glanced at Eva. Seeing the look and realising that he was planning something, she nodded. He reached out and pulled her on the elk behind him. "Watch my back." He ordered, before riding his elk through the incoming orcs. Clenching her legs around the elk's body, Eva slowly let go of the king and started cutting down orcs that tried to attack from behind. 

Grace barely had any time to be surprised about seeing Eva on the back off the elk, when she saw trolls appear and knew what that meant. She quickly warned Bard and Gandalf that they were attacking Dale and the people of Laketown quickly ran to help defend the city. Bilbo and Gandalf followed them, while the humans from earth and two of their soulmates stayed on the field at the gates.

On ravenhill, Azog smirked at his brilliant move to attack the undefended city. That was, until the first orcs entered the city and were met with another army of elves that was waiting for them. "Surprise, you bastards." Elladan said with a vicious smirk, before cutting off the head of the nearest orc. Azog looked up again when he heard the sound of fighting in the city. He roared in anger at seeing the elven ambush

After a while, Thranduil and Eva went to the ruined city as well. The elk was shot as they entered the gates, but they both managed to jump off without hurting themselves. Orcs quickly surrounded them. Sharing a quick look, Eva put her daggers back in their holsters and opened her water skin instead. She kept her eyes on her opponents and slowly turned her wrist, turning the water steaming hot.

She quickly shot it into the eyes of an orc, blinding it. Thranduil immediately cut the monster down. This was how they worked, Eva finding ways to blind them with her powers and Thranduil using that distraction to defeat them. They didn't see eye-to-eye, but they worked together in that moment and that was enough. If Legolas could've seen them, his jaw would have fallen to the ground.

On the field in front of the mountain, things began to seem dire. Orcs kept streaming in, even after James had tried to close the tunnels with his powers. The trolls just burst straight through the blockade. At the very least, they had managed to keep each other alive. Hearing Dáin ordering his men to retreat towards the mountain, the humans and elleth quickly listened and ran back. Grace almost arrived at the wall, when she heard Aragorn cry out in pain.

She whirled around and saw that an orc had tackled him to the ground and was about to kill him. "No!" She screamed, running towards them and throwing out a fist as if to punch it. A harsh wind was blown from her hands and blasted the orc away from her soulmate. Grace didn't even think about it as she quickly helped Aragorn up and carried him to the wall, literally blowing away any opponent that tried to stop her. 

Aragorn let out a cry as his ribs had been bruised from when the orc had tackled him. Grace gave him a concerned look as she still helped supporting him. He tried to smile, but their odds weren't looking good. James and Arwen huddled close together, the man instinctively putting his soulmate behind him. "We need Thorin. Where is he?" They heard Dáin ask and shared a look, hoping that Thorin would come to his senses fast

 _Meanwhile in Erebor._  

The mood in the mountain was dark. Thorin had ordered the company to stand down, despite the fact that their kin was fighting. He had retreated to the throne room, where Dwalin had approached him in a last effort to talk some sense in him. "Since when do we abandon our own kin? Thorin, they are dying out there. Dáin, the humans and even that elleth." He stated, but Thorin was so deep into his dragon sickness that he didn't even hear his most loyal warrior 

He rambled about how they should move the gold to a safer location and Dwalin had enough. "Did you not hear me?! Dáin and our friends are surrounded. They are being slaughtered." He snapped, calling the humans his friends for the first time. Thorin couldn't care less. "Perhaps, if that traitorous human witch had shown herself, her friends wouldn't be in trouble." He spat, talking about Victoria. 

Dwalin looked at his king in disbelief, but he wasn't done. "Many die in war. Life is cheap, but this treasure cannot be countered in lives lost. It's worth all the blood that we can spend." Thorin continued. Dwalin narrowed his eyes. "You sit here in these vast halls with a crown upon your head and yet, you are lesser now than you have ever been." He said softly, his disappointment of what his friend had become clear

After almost attacking Dwalin in his madness, Thorin managed to get to his senses just enough to order him to get out, before he killed him. Dwalin slowly obeyed the order and Thorin started to walk through the mountain. As he walked over the golden floor of their failed dragon trap, he started getting visions and hearing voices. He slowly started to realise how far he had fallen as he envisioned the gold swallowing him whole.

Finally coming back to his senses, Thorin dropped to his knees and threw away his crown, feeling sick with self-loathing. He stayed there for a few seconds, staring into nothing, before footsteps were heard nearby and a hand appeared in his vision. He looked up and saw a smiling Victoria. "Welcome back, my friend." She greeted kindly, before silently ordering him to take her hand.

He did and she quickly helped him stand up again. He tried to apologise, but she quickly stopped him before he could even say a word. "There will be time for apologies, but our family and friends need us right now." She stated. The dwarf agreed, before going to shed his heavy armour and apologise to the company. He hesitantly approached his men, who were standing close to the gate.

Thorin endured Kíli's angry emotional rant about how he couldn't hide while others fought the battle for them, before agreeing with him that Durin's folk didn't flee from a fight. Kíli slowly started to smile a bit as he realised that his uncle was back to his senses. Thorin hugged his nephew briefly, before turning to the rest of the company. "I have no right to ask this of any off you, but will you follow me one last time?" He asked.

Seeing that he was truly sane again, the company all stood up in support. Thorin turned to where he came from. "What about you? Will you follow me?" He asked and from the shadows stepped Victoria. "Well, what can I say?" She asked out loud, being unable to help herself. "Certainty of death. Small chance of success." She continued, creating a fireball out of thin air. She looked back at the company with a smirk. "What are we waiting for?" She asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time.


	29. To ravenhill

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Just as the trolls and orcs were about to advance, there was the sound of a horn blowing and the humans from earth immediately sighed in relief, knowing what it meant. The barricade that was blocking the gate was destroyed by a golden bell and the company of Thorin Oakenshield, plus one human, finally ran out of it. Dáin cheered loudly as the dwarves finally followed their king. 

Their strength and spirit renewed, they fought back harder than before. Victoria fought close to Grace and Aragorn. "About time that you joined us." Grace shouted over the noise, trying to figure out how her new powers worked. Victoria smirked as she threw fireball after fireball. "Yeah, I know. Hey, you got air? You think that if you spin around, you can make a tornado and suck these bastards up?" She asked, not even surprised anymore. 

Grace gave her a look, before quickly running a bit away from them and her allies. Concentrating briefly, but very deeply, she started to spin around fast. The air followed her example and soon enough, a giant tornado had formed and made its way through the incoming orcs. The company, other dwarves, humans and elleth cheered loudly at this new development, before continuing to fight the ones that had avoided the tornado.

After a while, Grace stopped the tornado, feeling dizzy and tired. Nonetheless, she kept fighting. Aragorn fought his way back to her side, protecting her and defending her. No orc would come close to her as long as he still drew breath. They kept fighting together, while the company threw over their weapons to each other as easy as they had done with Bilbo's plates and cutlery. It seemed so long ago that they had left Bag End. 

James, Victoria and Arwen fought together and the earth shook as James used his powers as much as he could without truly exhausting himself. He needed his strength for the smaller, but more important battle ahead. He was nothing for the line of Durin if he was too exhausted to help them. He couldn't save Thorin and his nephews if he collapsed from pure exhaustion. Victoria blinded the orcs with her fire, allowing Arwen to cut them down

Thorin and his nephews were about to go to Ravenhill and defeat Azog once and for all. They got help from Balin and Dwalin At seeing them go to the infamous place, Grace turned to James and Victoria, wondering what to do next. James shook his head. They couldn't go yet. They had to wait for Eva. Only together did they stand a chance of defeating Azog and his strongest orcs.

In dale, the fight had looked a bit more dire, but they didn't give up. Gandalf and Bilbo were relieved to see the company finally joining the fight and amazed at seeing the tornado. Gandalf heard someone calling his name and looked up to see Legolas and Tauriel arriving on horseback. The elven prince informed him of another army coming this way from gundabad. "What is that?" Legolas suddenly asked at seeing the tornado in the distance

Gandalf smiled. "I believe that our good friend Grace is responsible for that." He said. At this, the prince's eyes widened. "Gandalf, where's Eva?" He asked, worried about his soulmate. "Last time that I saw her, she was fighting side-by-side with your father." The grey wizard answered and the elf went to look for her. He found her in a heated discussion with his father. He called her name and she whirled around, her face lightening up at seeing him.

"Legolas, could you please tell your father that he can't leave in the middle of a battle?!" She shouted in frustration, throwing a sharp icicle at an upcoming orc without looking. Legolas immediately raised an eyebrow at his father. "You're leaving?" He asked incredulously. Thranduil tried to explain that he had shed enough blood, but his son wouldn't hear it. "The humans have shed blood too, but they're not giving up and neither should you." He said, before turning to Eva and explaining the situation.

She gripped her daggers tight. "We need to find the others and go there. Thorin and his nephews are in danger." She said, giving Thranduil one last look, before grabbing her soulmate's hand and pulling him along. Tauriel had already gone ahead after hearing that Kíli was up there. They jumped on the horse and left. While riding past the river, Eva made the water shoot up in the sky. It was a clear sign to show where she was. James saw it and whistled, a signal to the others.

Grace and Aragorn shared a look and the male ranger smiled. "Go. I'll be fine." He whispered. She stepped closer and briefly rested her forehead against his, taking a deep breath in fear. Aragorn gently shushed her.  "It's alright, my love. We'll see each other again. I'm sure of it." He said, before gently nudging her forward. Grace reluctantly went to stand with Victoria. Arwen boldly pulled James close and kissed him, much to the surprise of everyone else.

"You better come back to me, or my father will pull you back out of the halls of Mandos to kill you himself." She threatened. James gulped at that, before quickly nodding. Arwen kissed his cheek. "For luck." She whispered. James smiled at her, before looking at Aragorn."Look after her." He ordered and the ranger quickly nodded. With one last look, the three were off, finding some of Dáin's goats and jumping on them, despite being slightly too big, but they managed.

After a while, they managed to catch up with Eva and Legolas at the foot of the mountain. Eva smiled a tiny bit at seeing them, but the situation was dire. "They're already at the top. We really need to hurry." She urged. They had made it this far. They couldn't fail now. "It's time to fulfil a promise." She said solemnly as she and her friends and soulmate started to climb towards the peak.


	30. Battle on the hill

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

At the top, Thorin, his nephews and Dwalin had discovered that Azog had abandoned his post and was hiding somewhere nearby. Thorin had sent Fíli and Kíli to ahead to explore, before being distracted by several goblins, which he had Dwalin fought off. Once they had beaten all of them, Bilbo had appeared out of nowhere to warn them of the incoming army. Thorin quickly went to find his nephews, when a beating drum distracted him once again. 

Azog appeared on the other side of the frozen river and he had Fíli in his grasp. **"This one will die first, then his brother, then you, Oakenshield. You will die last."** The monster roared, holding Fíli by his neck. The blond prince tried to tell them to run, but Thorin refused to leave. Just as azog pulled his sword arm back to stab him, the whole rock shook. Startled, Azog let go of Fíli and he started to fall. 

A platform grew from the side of the mountain, stopping his fall. Several other platforms followed, creating stairs. Still shaking from head to toe, Fíli climbed down as fast as he could. The second that he left a platform, it disappeared back into the mountain, making it hard for orcs to follow him. Those who did, were quickly knocked away by a strong current of flying water. 

Kili, James and Eva were waiting for Fíli at the end. "Go to your uncle! Now!" Eva ordered, pushing the two princes away. They quickly obeyed and ran across the frozen river. Thorin met them halfway and pulled them close for a few seconds. He looked at the human siblings and nodded at them in gratitude. They nodded back, before Eva ran up the tower construction, ready for a fight. James stayed behind and crossed the frozen river to help Bilbo

Azog whirled around after the shaking had stopped, only for a blast of air to knock him backwards and blow several of his soldiers off the mountain. The others got fire thrown at them. Victoria and Grace dealt with the orcs on top of the ruins, only to see that Azog had disappeared during their fight. "He's going after Thorin." Grace muttered, before she and Victoria quickly started to run back down.

Said dwarf was now truly furious. The bastard had tried to kill his family for the last time. After ordering his nephews to go back, he charged at the ruins. Bilbo wanted to follow him, but his sword warned him that other orcs were incoming. A few seconds later, Bolg and his army arrived. James gripped his sword, knowing that his powers were not going to help them on such a small spot. Dwalin went to help them. 

During the fight, Sting was knocked out of Bilbo's hands and James quickly curled his hand to a fist, making several rocks nearby crack into smaller rocks. Seeing this, the hobbit quickly grabbed the rocks and threw them to the orcs, knocking them out. This went on for a while, before Bolg managed to sneak up on him and knock him out instead. James quickly went to stand close to him, defending his unconscious body. 

At the other side of the frozen river, Thorin had found Azog, or Azog had found him. The two enemies quickly started to fight each other, before ending up back on the ice. Azog ordered his army to kill him, but they were killed by Legolas shooting his arrows from a distance. Eva had told him to get up there and he had reluctantly listened. Thorin took care of the rest of the orcs by himself

In the ruins, Victoria and Grace had already fought off and killed many orcs, but they just kept incoming. A few minutes later, they were backed into a corner, the orcs all grinning in victory. Glancing up, Grace muttered for Victoria to brace herself, before blasting some rocks away and making the ceiling collapse on the orcs. Grace turned to Victoria. "Not a word to Aragorn about this." She said, before running off to fight other orcs. 

Somewhere else, Eva had met up with Tauriel. "Where's Kíli?" The red-haired elleth asked frantically. Eva quickly reassured her that he was safe, before orcs attacked. Working together, the women managed to fight most of them off, before Bolg attacked. The women did their best to fight him, but he was very strong. He knocked Tauriel out and was about to kill her, when Eva turned the water from her water skin into an icicle and stabbed him in the back, distracting him.

Furious, the orc turned around and started attacking her instead. Eva led him to the edge, before grabbing him and jumping sideways, pulling him with her. "Eva!" Tauriel shouted in shock. Legolas heard her scream and quickly looked to where it had come from. He saw Bolg advance on a still Eva. He reached back for his arrows, only to realise that he had run out. Slightly panicking, he thought of something else. 

A troll had been trying to get the tower down on which he was standing. He quickly grabbed his daggers, jumped down on the orc and stabbed it in the back. With the right movements, he made the troll run against the tower at full speed. This made it fall sideways and into the ravine that was separating him and the orc. It got stuck in-between the two sides, forming an unstable bridge

Distracted once again, Bolg went to fight the prince, keeping him away from Eva. Tauriel quickly climbed down and checked on the other woman. She had a wound on her head and her leg was definitely broken, but she was still breathing. She shared a look with Legolas and nodded, telling him that she was alive. He sighed in relief, before focusing on his opponent. Tauriel kept guarding Eva. She didn't know if there were anymore orcs and she couldn't fight while carrying Eva.

Legolas fought Bolg on the collapsing tower, anger fuelling his actions. The orc had been about to kill his soulmate and he would not let that stand. He managed to temporarily get Bolg out of the way, before seeing that a defenceless Thorin was about to be killed. Knowing that Eva would never forgive him for letting him die, Legolas threw Orcrist into the chest of the lord that had been advancing on the dwarf.

Thorin quickly grabbed the sword from the dead orc's body and glanced at Legolas. The prince gave him a brief nod, before Bolg appeared again and continued the fight. This time, Legolas had to use his daggers. After Bolg had thrown a rock at him, the tower started to collapse completely. Quickly jumping from stone to stone, the prince managed to get himself to safety. 

He made the same move that he had done in Laketown. Last time he had lost using that move, but he had learned from his mistakes and managed to get the upper hand. He jumped on the orc's back and stabbed him in the head with his dagger, before jumping off his back to safety and making its body fall into the ravine below. Arriving at the spot where Eva and Tauriel had been, his heart stopped at not seeing them there anymore. 

Suddenly noticing footsteps in the snow, he followed them up the stairs and saw his father standing there, Eva in his arms and Tauriel, Grace and Victoria making sure that no harm came to either of them. He quickly ran up and took his soulmate over from his father, smiling at him in gratitude. Hearing Azog roar in the distance, Grace and Victoria looked at the elves. "Go. We'll be alright." Thranduil ordered. The human women nodded and left. 

On the frozen river, Thorin was in a bad spot. He and Azog had fought bitterly, the orc using a big rock attached to a chain to attack him. Using the arrival of the eagles, led by Radagast, Thorin had tried to use the rock against the orc and make him sink underwater. It seemed to work for a second, but Azog managed to take him by surprise and jump out of the ice, pinning him down on the ice. 

Thorin furiously tried to block the orc's sword arm with Orcrist, but he knew that he couldn't hold on like this for very long. Just as he decided to pull back his sword to let Azog stab him, but allowing him to stab and kill the orc in return, a fireball flew right past Azog's eyes and blinded him for a few seconds. Azog roared in anger and pulled back, the weight on thorin disappearing. 

Using this moment, Thorin got up and saw Grace standing behind Azog. She nodded at him, before sending a blast of air to Azog's back, making him stumble forwards. Thorin quickly stabbed the orc right through the heart, before cutting his head off. The orc's body immediately fell down, black blood darkening the ice. Thorin breathed heavily as he stared at the body. After so many years, Azog the Defiler was finally dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The big battle is over. Next is the aftermath
> 
> Read and review. See you next time.


	31. Truth's out

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

The different groups met each other at the base of the mountain. James freaked out at seeing his unconscious sister. "This is the second time that this has happened in just a few days time." He grumbled. Victoria chuckled and patted his back in sympathy as they started the trek back to Erebor. "Eva loves taking risks. You know that and that's why Legolas is perfect for her." She softly commented and James reluctantly agreed. 

The rest of the company had all survived the battle and were happy to see thorin and his nephews alright, Fíli and Kíli having stayed with James and Dwalin. They had been so busy fighting that they had been too late to help Thorin. Bilbo was mostly fine, considering the hit that he took. Everyone also worried about the unconscious Eva and Gloin and Oin quickly went inside to find the right things to set her broken leg and bandage her head.

While that was happening, James and Grace reunited with their own, relieved soulmates. Aragorn crushed her to his chest, sighing in relief at having her back in his arms. Grace simply chuckled and rubbed his back. "I'm okay, Meleth nín. I promise that I'm okay." She whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. Aragorn took a deep breath, before holding her even closer and closing his eyes. 

Seeing Arwen run towards him, James quickly caught her and lifted her up, spinning her around. She laughed in happiness and relief as he gently put her down again. She cupped his face, before kissing him. He quickly returned the action, holding her close. A voice shouting in the distance made them pull apart to set a wounded, but alive Elladan riding up to them. "If you could please not kiss my sister in front of everyone, that would be really nice." He said once he had arrived. 

Arwen blushed a bit and hid her face in James's chest. Grace chuckled, before asking the ellon about the situation in Dale. "We lost quite a few soldiers, but we survived. I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't been there." He told the mixed group, just as the two dwarves came back and began to set Eva's leg while she was still unconscious. Thorin welcomed the elves in Erebor, much to the shock of everyone. 

"Thorin, are you serious about this?" Daín asked and Thorin turned to him, "we would have been dead if it had not been for them. Yes, I am very serious." He replied, before Oin went to look at his foot as Azog had stabbed it right through. No one had noticed Victoria sneaking off to the mountain on his orders and coming back with a box, handing it to Thranduil. "I do believe that these belong to you." The dwarf king said, looking at the elf. 

Legolas had saved his life, so he owed the elves one. Thranduil gave him a look, before opening the chest and seeing the gems that he had wanted for so long. He looked back at Thorin and nodded at him, Thorin returning the nod. They had a lot to talk about and the harsh feelings wouldn't disappear easily, but maybe, they could get the trade relationship between the two kingdoms back to what it originally had been. 

Now that all the panic was over, Grace turned to get a proper look at Erebor while still in her soulmate's arms. "Erebor." She breathed, impressed by the vast mountain. James and Victoria looked as well and repeated the name. "It's only a model." Another voice muttered, followed by a groan as Eva woke up in her soulmate's arms. The company and her friends immediately called her name in relief. 

She winced at the loud sound and hid her face in the chest of Legolas. The prince hushed her and stroked her hair. Realising that they weren't helping her, the company quickly quieted down. "What happened?" Eva asked softly, before suddenly hissing in pain at moving her leg. Legolas held her tighter. James, who had kneeled down next to her with Arwen, winced. "Yeah, you may wanna keep yourself still. You broke your leg." He told her. 

Eva groaned again. "Great. Just fantastic." She muttered sarcastically. Both Legolas and James smiled at this, before everyone walked into the mountain to rest. Both Thranduil and the elven twins had brought healers with them and they quickly arrived to help with the wounded. Bofur led Legolas to a bedroom and the prince gently put his soulmate on it, immediately settling down at her side.

Eva smiled at him tiredly as he brushed her hair back. "Do you need anything? Food or water?" He asked, worried about her. She smiled and shook her head. "I'm just tired, Legolas. That's all." She reassured him, before grabbing his hand and pulling him down next to her. He was surprised by this action, before relaxing and wrapping his arms around her. She carefully put her head on his chest. 

Eva closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep, when a loud roar sounded through the mountain. "Sounds like Kíli finally told Thorin the truth." Eva muttered, having recognised the dwarf's voice. Legolas, whose grip had tightened at hearing the roar, looked down at her in confusion. "What truth?" He asked. Eva smiled. "Kili and Tauriel are soulmates." She replied, before closing her eyes again. 

Legolas was shocked at this, but Eva had already fallen asleep and he's didn't want to wake her. He simply held her closer and stroked her hair. His heart had stopped at seeing Bolg approach her unconscious form and when she had faced Smaug. They were both reckless idiots, weren't they? He sighed deeply, before closing his own eyes and falling asleep as well. He hoped that Eva felt better when she woke up. 

The others ate some food, before going to help the wounded. They helped with the bandages and cleaning the wounds. It was nasty, but they couldn't just sit still and do nothing. After several hours, the sun began to set and they had helped a lot of elves, dwarves and humans and felt better about that. They found out that Alfrid and the master had died, but no one mourned them. They ate again, before going to bed.

A few days later, the company, plus Arwen, the elven twins, Tauriel and Legolas were all in the same room, happily chatting, drinking and catching up with each other, when Fíli spoke up. "Now that everything is over, I still want to know one thing: who is this sherlock that you called Smaug?" He asked looking at Victoria. She chuckled a bit, before falling silent. "He is a popular book character." She answered with a small smile. 

Balin frowned at this. "I've never heard of this character." He said. The humans from earth shared a look with Gandalf, who nodded subtly. Eva took a deep breath from where she was lying on a couch, leaning against Legolas and with her leg elevated. "What we're about to tell you, can't leave this room, understand? Not even your closest kin are to know." She said in a very serious tone.

The dwarves all shared confused and worried looks and Eva felt her soulmate tighten his grip on her. After a bit of muttering, every single one of the dwarves, Tauriel and Bilbo gave their word not to say anything. Grace began to talk, having done this before. "The reason that you don't know him, Balin, is because we're not from around here. We are actually from a completely different world." She told the dwarves, hobbit and elf. Their jaws all fell, some of them glancing to the others to see if it was true.

Their serious faces were enough to tell them that it was. Eva craned her head to see her soulmate's reaction and while Legolas looked shocked, he didn't really looked betrayed like Aragorn undoubtedly had. Then again, they had only known each other for a few weeks at most, instead of years like Grace and Aragorn had.Meanwhile, Grace told them about how they were actually very famous characters in their world.

"Don't worry. The quest still succeeded and Daín took good care of Erebor after the battle." She said and Thorin frowned. "Daín?" He asked and Grace winced at that, realising that she should've kept her mouth shut. "Yes. Daín ruled Erebor in the books." She told him slowly. He frowned again. "I do not understand. Even if I died, Fíli is my..." He trailed off as the penny dropped. He looked at Grace and at seeing her sympathetic look, he closed his eyes in despair.

The whole company fell silent, realising that they would've lost their king and princes. Tauriel had Kíli in a death grip and he did his best to comfort her, reminding her that he was safe and alive. "Well, this explains some of the weird things that you've been saying during the journey." Bofur said to try and lighten the mood. Some of the company chuckled dryly, before Victoria remembered something.

"Eh, Balin? If you get the idea of try and reclaim Moria, do us all a huge favour and throw that idea out of the window." She advised. Balin tried to protest that it could work, but the humans from earth all shook their heads and made cutting gestures. Realising that they probably had a good reason for this, Balin finally agreed. "What's in Moria that is so terrifying?" Ori asked, having been part of the doomed expedition in the books and movies. Victoria took a swig of her drink.

"You really don't want to know, Ori. Trust us." She said and the dwarf nodded at that, quickly believing her. The others muttered amongst each other, before Thorin cleared his throat and raised his goblet. "To our saviours." He toasted and the rest of the dwarves followed his example, which made the humans from earth turn red. They thanked their friends and started to talk about happier topics. They had a lot of fun for the rest of the day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review. See you next time


	32. A farewell party

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

Several weeks after the battle of the five armies, things were looking up quite a bit. With the help from the elves, reparations for Dale, Erebor and Laketown were underway. Funerals had been held for the fallen. One day, a small party from Rivendell slowly made their way to Erebor. Eva greeted them at the gate. She immediately led the guest that they were escorting to the right room. Knocking on the door to Thorin's study, she poked her head in.

"Exuse me, your majesty, but there is someone who wants to see you." She said, looking at the dwarves within: Thorin, Daín Fíli and Kíli. "Is it important?" Daín asked a bit impatiently and Eva nodded in answer. "I do think so." She replied. Thorin nodded and she gently led the old dwarf inside. The faces of Daín, Fíli and Kíli were hilarious. Thorin stared for a few seconds, before jumping off his chair and running towards said dwarf. The dwarf smiled and opened his arms, Thorin running right into them. Eva quietly left, so that they could have their reunion. 

A few hours later, there was a knock on the door of the room that Eva was using, Legolas being in Dale to discuss things with Bard. This time, Thorin was the one to come in with his father. "If I have to believe my son, then you are the person that I have to thank for my freedom." Thraín said. Eva stood straight in respect. "I just had a vision, your highness. Lord Elrond was the one, who truly saved you while I was busy keeping your son's stubborn butt safe." She said. 

Thraín smiled at her. "And I want to thank you for that as well." He said with a chuckle, before carefully bowing to her. She returned the bow, before Thorin gently led his father to his own room to rest. Once he was sleeping, Thorin returned to Eva and asked what would've happened to his father if she hadn't been there and she sighed. "Nothing good. I can tell you that." She replied. Thorin nodded at that, before leaving. 

Bilbo wanted to go home, but Thorin asked him and the humans to wait until after his true coronation. He didn't want to do it without his friends being there. Hearing his respon, they agreed. After a few more weeks, in which the first families from the blue mountains were starting to arrive and the humans and Tauriel met Thorin's sister and the mother of Fíli and Kíli, Dis, it was finally time for the coronation.

Once Thorin was crowned, he called the humans, elves and hobbit forward. They kneeled in front of him and Thorin did something very special: he gave them the title of "Dwarf Friend," which wasn't a title given easily. They bowed to him in gratitude, feeling honoured. Some dwarves muttered about Arwen, Elladan, Elrohir, Tauriel and Legolas getting the title, but Thorin quickly put a stop to those, getting some vindication out of it as most of those dwarves had refused to come with him on the quest. 

"They helped us on our quest, while you were safe and sound in your homes. It is because of them that we are all standing here in a reclaimed Erebor, so if you have a problem with that, then you can take it up with Fíli, Kíli and Dwalin." He said, motioning to the three dwarves, who looked all too happy to take care of those "complaints," especially Kíli. The humans all shared a surprised look at Thorin's speech, but knew better than to complain. 

A couple of days later, it was time for the humans, elves, wizard and hobbit to leave. The evening before, the entire company, plus Arwen, Elladan, Elrohir, Tauriel and Legolas all came together to celebrate one more time. During the small party, Bofur turned to the humans after a while. "Are there any songs where you come from?" He asked, curious about their world. The others looked up as well. 

Grace smiled at him. "Of course there are. Do you want to hear one of them?" She asked and the whole company nodded. Looking at her friends to see if they were okay with it, which they were, Grace thought deeply to find this right song. "There is one song that I always enjoyed, but I need your help for that." She said, glancing at her friends from earth. They all nodded, ready to help. Taking a deep breath, Grace began to sing, her voice soft and high. 

_A single thread in a tapestry_

_Through its color brightly shines_

_Can never see its purpose_

_In the pattern of the grand design_

 

_And the stone that sits on the very top_

_Of the mountains mighty face_

_Does it think it's more important_

_Than the stones that form the base?_

_So how can you see what your life is worth_

_Or where your value lies?_

_You can never see through the eyes of man_

_You must look at your life_

_Look at your life through heaven's eyes_

The dwarves all looked slightly surprised at hearing the beautiful singing that came out of Grace's mouth, never having heard her sing before. Aragorn just smiled proudly at her as did her friends. After reaching this point in the song, Victoria, Eva and James started to either clap their hands or bang their hands on the armrests of the chairs to make a beat, quickly joining in with the chorus.

 

_Lai le lai lai lee lai lai_

_L_ _a_ i _lai lai lai lai_

_La lai lai lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lai lai lai_

_Lai le lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai_   _lai lai lai lai_

_La lai lai lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lai lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lai lai_

_La lai lai lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lai lai lai._

The dwarves slowly joined in with the beat, really starting to enjoy the song. Tauriel and Arwen clapped their hands as well to help with it. Bilbo was nodding along and Gandalf simply watched it from the sidelines, smoking his pipe and smiling all the way. Eva motioned for the dwarves to quiet down, so that she could sing the next part and they listened. Eva's voice was a bit more rough, but still pretty enough to comfortably listen to

 

_A lake of gold in the desert sand_

_Is less than a cool fresh spring_

_And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy_

_Is greater than the richest king_

 

_If a man loses everything he owns_

_H_ _as he truly lost his worth?_

_Or is it the beginning_

_Of a new and brighter birth?_

 

_So how do you measure the worth of a man_

_In wealth or strength or size?_

_In how much he gained or how much he gave?_

 

_The answer will come_

_The answer will come to him who tries_

_To look at his life through heaven's eyes_

 

_And that's why we share all we have with you_

_Though there's little to be found_

_When all you've got is nothing_

_There's a lot to go around_

 

_No life can escape being blown about_

_By the winds of change and chance_  

_And though you never know all the steps_

_You must learn to join the dance_

_You must learn to join the dance_

 

_Lai le lai lai lee lai lai_

  _L_ _ai lai lai lai lai_

_La lai lai lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lai lai lai_

_Lai le lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lai lai_

_La lai lai lai lai lee lai lai_

  _L_ _ai lai lai lai lai lai_

_Lai le lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lai lai_  

_La lai lai lai lai lee lai lai_

_Lai lai lai lai lai lai_

At this, James stood up and grabbed his soulmate's hand and starting to dance as the chorus started slow, before speeding up. The room was big enough for them to have enough space for it. Grace, Eva and even Kíli did the same thing with their soulmates. Thorin was listening intently as the lyrics hit him deep. Having no one to dance with, Victoria took over for the last part of the song, her voice strong and powerful. 

 

_So how do you judge what a man is worth_

_By what he builds or buys?_

_You can never see with your eyes on earth_

_Look through heaven's eyes_

_Look at your life_

_Look at your life_

 

_Look at your life through heaven's eyes_

At the end of the song, everyone cheered and applauded both the song and singers. Legolas looked at bits soulmate in wonder. "I didn't know that you could sing so well." He commented, making her blush. "All three of us have taken singing lessons. That's how we became friends." She explained and he nodded in understanding. They talked for a while longer, before Arwen and Tauriel retired. Once they were gone, James decided to introduce the dwarves to the song "Master of the house" from the musical "Les Miserables." He acted like he was drunk, before starting to sing.

_My band of soaks, my den of dissolutes_

_My dirty jokes, my always pissed as newts_

_My sons of whores spend their lives in my inn_

_Homing pigeons homing in_

_They fly through my doors_

_And they crawl out on all fours_  

His friends from earth started to laugh as they finally recognised the song. The dwarves were in for a treat. Victoria stood up and pretended to be a customer of James's pretend inn. Her friend quickly went to her and "secretly" started to steal things while continuing to sing. Aragorn and Legolas just watched it with raised eyebrows, wondering what in the name of the Valar their friends were up to. James went on with singing 

_Welcome, Madame, sit yourself down_

_And meet the best innkeeper in town_

_As for the rest, all of 'em crooks:_

_Rooking their guests and cooking the books_

_Seldom do you see_

_Honest men like me_

_A gent of good intent_

_Who's content to be_

_Master of the house, doling out the charm_

_Ready with a handshake and an open palm_

_Tells a saucy tale, makes a little stir_

_Customers appreciate a bon-viveur_

_Glad to do a friend a favor_

_Doesn't cost me to be nice_

_But nothing gets you nothing_

_Everything has got a little price!_

 

_Master of the house, keeper of the zoo_

_Ready to relieve 'em of a sou or two_

_Watering the wine, making up the weight_

_Pickin' up their knick-knacks when they can't see straight_

_Everybody loves a landlord_

_Everybody's bosom friend_

_I do whatever pleases_

_Jesus! Won't I bleed 'em in the end!_

James pretended to piss at the "watering the wine" part and went around, stealing little things from the company: a bead, a small dagger and the likes. Grace had taught him once to do that, but only for emergencies. The company was surprised at his skill, but they could all laugh about it after seeing that James had managed to get yet another item. The man always gave it back to them, before continuing the song

_Master of the house, quick to catch yer eye_

_Never was a passerby to pass him by_

_Servant to the poor, butler to the great_

_Comforter, philosopher, and lifelong mate!_

_Everybody's boon companion_

_Everybody's chaperone_

_But lock up your valises_

_Jesus! Won't I skin you to the bone!_

_Food beyond compare. Food beyond belief_

_Mix it in a mincer and pretend it's beef_

_Kidney of a horse, liver of a cat_

_Filling up the sausages with this and that_

_Residents are more than welcome_

_Bridal suite is occupied_

_Reasonable charges_

_Plus some little extras on the side!_

 

_Charge 'em for the lice, extra for the mice_

_Two percent for looking in the mirror twice (Hand it over!)_

_Here a little slice, there a little cut_

_Three percent for sleeping with the window shut_

_When it comes to fixing prices_

_There are a lot of tricks I knows_

_How it all increases, all them bits and pieces_

_Jesus! It's amazing how it grows!_

Grace pretended to reluctantly give her money to James, fighting hard to hid her smile. Victoria did no such thing as she shook with laughter. The company really enjoyed the song, even more than the last one as they started to get more drunk and this song fitted that perfectly. Aragorn watched it with a smile, enjoying it as well. Legolas wasn't sure what to make of it, which become worse, when Eva decided to join in the song. 

" _I used to dream that I would meet a prince, but God Almighty, have you seen what's happened since?_ " She started, looking at Legolas and winking. Everyone now turned to her to see how her part went. Eva leaned against her soulmate and pretended to be drunk as well. Legolas looked down at her with a small smile and she smiled back at him as she continued the song.

_Master of the house? Isn't worth my spit!_

_Comforter, philosopher and lifelong shit!_

_Cunning little brain, regular Voltaire_

_Thinks he's quite a lover but there's not much there_

"Exuse me!" Legolas exclaimed loudly as the company roared with laughter while Aragorn, Bilbo and Gandalf looked surprised at the lyrics too. A hand on his shoulder made him look up at Grace. "It's just a song. She doesn't mean it." She said and Legolas took a deep breath, before settling down again. Eva smiled at him apologetically and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek, before she and the others started to finish the song, her and James switching back-and-forth at the right parts 

_What a cruel trick of nature landed me with such a louse_

_God knows how I've lasted living with this bastard in the house!_

 

_Master of the house!_

_ Master and a half! _

_Comforter, philosopher_

_Don't make me laugh!_

_Servant to the poor, butler to the great_

_Hypocrite and toady and inebriate!_

_Everybody bless the landlord!_

_Everybody bless his spouse!_

_Everybody raise a glass_

_Raise it up the master's arse_

_Everybody raise a glass to the Master of the House!_

The dwarves all cheered and laughed, although Bilbo was beet red in the face and even Legolas looked a bit red. Victoria was glad that they didn't have the visuals of the movie, silently giggling at imagining their reaction. She decided not to say anything about it and let it go. Eva gave her soulmate an apologetic smile and he kissed her temple, telling her that she was forgiven. Grace comfortably leaned against Aragorn as she fully relaxed

Before long, it was time for bed and everyone went happily. Tomorrow, the humans, hobbit and elves would leave together and start their journey home. Starting tomorrow, the company would be a lot smaller than before. The humans and Bilbo had to admit that as much fun and dangerous the quest had been and as nice as the dwarves were now, they couldn't wait to get back home


	33. Going home

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise.

"Send a raven when you finally find your soulmate. Kíli and I want to talk to him." Fíli ordered gently as he hugged Victoria goodbye. The woman smiled. "Even if it takes sixty years, or so?" She asked playfully, laughing when the princes nodded. They had become like big brothers during the journey and they were keeping that role. She promised, before hugging them again. Pulling back, she joined Gandalf in waiting.

Once the humans had said goodbye, Thorin stepped forwards. "The line of Durin owes you a great debt, my friends. You will always be welcome here." He stated, before he and the company bowed as one. The humans bowed back, before Grace turned to their hobbit. "Bilbo, don't you want to say anything?" She asked, gently nudging him forward. The hobbit hesitated, before starting to speak.

"If any of you are ever passing Bag End, tea is at four. There's enough for everyone and you are welcome anytime. Don't bother knocking." He said and the company chuckled tearfully. With one last look and nods towards their friends, the humans, hobbit and wizard started on their way back. The dwarves watched them go, wondering when they would see their friends again. 

In Dale, the elven armies were waiting for them and they said goodbye to Bard and his children. The man thanked them for saving his family and friends and they smiled at that. Leaving Dale, Arwen quickly joined their group and rode next to James. Eva and Grace were riding next to their soulmates as well, Bilbo riding with Victoria. "Did you really mean that with the sixty years thing?" He asked. 

Victoria craned her neck to look at him. "With my luck, probably. Luckily, the Valar are merciful and I will not age, until I finally meet him." She softly told him and Bilbo breathed in awe. The woman shook her head to get rid of a small voice in her head, telling her that she could become all powerful and find her soulmate. They were almost in Mirkwood, when she realised where the voice came from. 

"Bilbo, you might want to put the ring somewhere else, considering that you told us that you lost it before in here." She quietly advised as the forest showed up in the distance. Bilbo quickly obeyed and the voice became more distant and easier to ignore. Victoria shook her head again and continued to ride. Eva gave her a worried look and she smiled, showing her friend that she was alright.

They stayed in the palace for a few days and Victoria, Grace  and Aragorn got their old weapons back. During those few days, Legolas approached his father and told him that he was going with Eva. Thranduil nodded at this, having expected it. He had watched Eva and Legolas interact on the journey back and could see that they already cared deeply about each other. He gave his permission for his son to go.

Before Legolas left, his father gave him one last piece of advice to get to know the man that he knew as Strider. Legolas gave him a confused look, before walking out of the room. The group left the palace after several days, now one army smaller. The Mirkwood elves still escorted them top the border to make sure that they weren't attacked again. Aragorn kept a hold on Grace's hand during the entire time. 

They went past the home of Beorn and thanked the man for his help. He smiled in his own way and nodded at them. They continued on to the Misty Mountains and luckily for them, there were no stone giants fight this time. A tired, but happy group sighed in relief at seeing Rivendell in the distance. However, they had one more obstacle once they had arrived there: Saruman the White. 

The powerful wizard questioned them about the quest and about how they apparently had powers of the Valar. He wanted to see those powers, but Grace had an answer for that. "I'm afraid that we have lost our powers, lord Saruman. We woke up on the day after the battle and they were gone. I think that they were only meant for the quest." She told him, her friends from earth solemnly nodding in agreement. 

Saruman didn't fully believe them, but let it go. He left after several questions and Gandalf turned to the humans from earth and simply raised an eyebrow. "May I ask why you lied to him?" He asked a bit confused. Eva simply gave him a look. "Saruman doesn't need to know everything. It's better this way." She replied vaguely. Lord Elrond and Gandalf shared a look, but let it go for now. 

After at least a week, it was time for Bilbo to go home. The humans were staying in Rivendell, so they had to say goodbye to the brave, little hobbit. They all hugged him tightly, promising to visit often and reminding him to pick up the chest of gold that the dwarves had buried in the troll hoard. After hugging him, Victoria looked at the hobbit. "Bilbo... about that ring that you found..." She started to say.

Bilbo shifted a bit, feeling a bit possessive over the ring. "What about it?" He asked. Victoria looked at him for a few seconds, before smiling. "Keep a close eye on it. You never know when it comes in handy to hide from Lobelia Sackville-Baggins." She advised. Bilbo lit up at that suggestion and quickly nodded. After several more goodbyes, the hobbit and wizard finally left Rivendell for the shire.

"I hope those wretched relatives haven't stolen his things yet. He's been away longer than in the book." Grace muttered in a worried tone, before looking in confusion as Eva snorted. "I wish them good luck getting in as I had Gandalf put a spell on the door before we left. Only Bilbo and those he invites in can walk through the door. Others will get a nasty shock. Literally." She explained and everyone laughed. 

After that, everyone split up. Grace and Victoria were wearing dresses again and the soulmate of the former was thanking his lucky stars for it. Grace and Aragorn went for a walk through the gardens. They had already caught up with Aragorn's mother about everything and they wouldn't go back to the rangers for a few weeks at most, so they had a bit of free time on their hands. 

Aragorn looked up at hearing his soulmate soft chuckles and looked up to see her smiling to herself. "What is it?" He asked. Grace looked up and blushed a bit. "It's stupid, but when I was little, I always dreamed to dance through gardens like these with my prince charming." She said, feeling a bit embarrassed about the childish dream. She had loved "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty" when she had been a little girl. 

Aragorn thought for a second, before bowing and holding out his hand. "Well then: may I have this dance, my lady?" He asked. Grace looked surprised for a second, before beaming and taking his hand. "You may, my good sir." She replied. Aragorn gently pulled her closer and started to sway with her in his arms. There was no music, but they didn't care. During the dance, Grace looked right into the eyes of her soulmate and saw nothing, but warmth and love in them. 

Aragorn smiled at her and kissed her forehead, while continuing to dance. He kept his face close to hers, continuing to give her face tiny kisses that made her giggle like a schoolgirl. Slowly stopping the dance, Aragorn gently pulled her even closer and kissed her properly. Breaking apart, he smiled. "I love you." He whispered and Grace beamed at him. "I love you too." She replied, before embracing him. During the hug, one thought floated through Grace's mind: ' _so this is love.'_

Eva and Legolas were on the training fields. While Eva was pretty good with a bow and arrows, she wanted to become better. Who better to help her, than the guy who took down a giant Oliphaunt by himself. She notched an arrow and aimed it, not letting go yet. Legolas stood behind her and gently grabbed her arms to reposition them. Eva could feel her heart speed up at having the handsome prince so nearby, but she did her best to ignore it for now

She let the arrow fly and it hit the bullseye. Smiling in victory, she turned her head, only to see the face of her soulmate mere inches from hers. While they had grown closer over the past few weeks, they hadn't had their first kiss yet. There was silence for a few seconds as they both glanced up-and-down each other's face, before they slowly leaned closer and their lips finally met. 

Breaking apart after a few seconds, they both took deep breaths, their faces still very close to each other. "That was nice." Eva muttered, a lopsided grin. Legolas smiled back. "It was. May I?" He asked, glancing down again. Eva giggled, before pulling him closer herself. They forgot about everything, except each other. Breaking apart again, Legolas gently nudged Eva's nose with his, making her laugh. 

James and Arwen were reading a book together in the library in the presence of lord Elrond. James knew that the elf lord was watching him, so he was very careful with his actions towards Arwen. Nevertheless, the elleth burrowed herself in his side, her head resting on his shoulder as he softly read the book out loud. James gently carded his fingers through her hair, smiling to himself. 

If you had told him fifteen years ago that one day he would be reading an elvish book to the real Arwen, who happened to be his soulmate, he would've laughed right in your face. He glanced down at his soulmate. Life could go in weird ways at times. He briefly glanced out of the window that overlooked this training fields and his eyes widened. "What on earth is Legolas doing with my sister?!" He suddenly asked in a loud tone. 

Victoria was telling the story of the rest of the quest to the elven twins. "It is a shame that you have not found your soulmate yet." Elladan commented. Victoria shrugged. "Better luck next time, I guess." She replied with a soft smile. She would meet him one day. She just had to be patient. Just then, they heard James shout and Victoria smiled. "It seems like Legolas and Eva finally kissed. Pay up." She said, holding out her hand. 

The twins did so, grumbling all the while. Victoria simply smiled and put her new money in her pocket. With the money that she got in the beginning of the journey from the dwarves, she had a pretty nice amount for in time of need. She shook her head, before continuing to tell the story. She just hoped that Legolas would still be alive at the end of the day. James sounded quite murderous. 

That evening, they all sat together in what was the equivalent of the living room. Legolas had survived, although James had been ready to use his powers on him. Only Eva and Arwen had managed to stop him. As it was, James had threatened the elf prince, saying that he would kill him if he hurt Eva. Everyone knew that Legolas would win in a fight between the two of them, but the prince still nodded.

Eva had rolled her eyes, but had let him be. Right now, she was lying with her head on his leg. Grace was sitting on her soulmate's lap and Arwen was resting against James's side. Victoria was leaning back with her feet on the table in front of her. The last one sighed after a while. "Stupid song. Get out of my head." She muttered and everyone turned to her. "Are you alright?" Arwen asked.

Victoria sighed. "I'm fine. There is just this song that I can not get out of my head at seeing all of you being all sweet and romantic." She replied. Everyone looked at her in curiosity and she smiled dryly "All the single ladies (All the single ladies) All the single ladies (All the single ladies). All the single ladies (All the single ladies). All the single ladies. Now put your hands up." She sang, raising her hand.

Everyone laughed. "You will find your soulmate one day and then, you will be just as sweet and romantic." Eva said. Victoria smiled at her. "Do you have any guesses on who it could be?" Arwen asked in curiosity. Victoria thought for a minute. "There are a few options. There is the older son of Gondor and the temporarily banished guy from Rohan to name a couple." She replied thoughtfully. 

"Don't forget the younger son of Gondor." Eva commented, knowing who she was talking about. Victoria pulled a face. "He already has the banished guy's sister, remember?" She asked. Eva hummed. "Yes, but don't forget that Arwen and Aragorn were supposed to be together too and that didn't happen." She said, pointing to the two as she said their names. Both human and elleth were a bit surprised at this. 

"Arwen and I were supposed to be together?" Aragorn asked, looking at Grace in confusion. She smiled at him. "We are not in the books, my love. In the books, you and Arwen do indeed end up together. There is this whole subplot about Arwen giving up her immortality for you, but we do not have to worry about that now." She answered, resting her forehead against his. Aragorn relaxed at her words and touch. 

Arwen was surprised as well. She was so used to Grace and Aragorn being together that it was hard to imagine her in the woman's place. Not the mention that she wasn't with James in those books. She squeezed her soulmate's hand at this thought and he kissed the top of her head. "I'm here Arwen. I'm here." He soothed, pulling her closer. Arwen curled into his side and closed her eyes.

"Well, let's enjoy the next sixty years, while we can." Victoria commented. Her friends from earth agreed with her. "What happens after those sixty years?" Legolas asked. Eva smiled at him. "That is a surprise." She replied in a mysterious tone, making him smile. With a smile, Victoria took her goblet and raised it. "To the next big adventure." She toasted. Everyone followed her example and raised their goblets as well.

"To the next big adventure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, this story had exceeded my previous largest story by almost twenty chapters. 
> 
> This was a lot of fun and while I can't wait to start the sequel, I'm afraid that I'll put it off, until I have at least one of my other stories finished. Luckily, I'm almost done with one of them. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone, who has liked, bookmarked subscribed to and commented on my story. 
> 
> I'll hopefully see you all with the sequel. 
> 
> Read and review. See you next time


	34. Sequel posted

The sequel is posted. It's called "a bigger fellowship" so go and read the first chapter.


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